CORVALLIS, Ore. – A man who was called a derogatory name and then injured in a fight says he feels relieved by the assault conviction returned by a jury in Corvallis against a Gresham man.
Chris Churilla says he was walking home in May of last year when someone in a group of five men yelled a derogatory epithet for homosexuals. The 35-year-old Churilla fought with one of them and suffered a skull fracture.
The jury last week convicted 21-year-old Garrett Max Strasburg of Gresham of misdemeanor assault and attempted felony assault.
The Gazette-Times reports the prosecutor called Strasburg a bully. His defense lawyer said Strasburg has no bias against homosexuals, and the fighting was self-defense.
