A review hearing in the case of Utah vs. D.J. Bell was held today in 3rd District Court.

Bell and his partner Dan Fair were beaten to a pulp by a bloodthirsty mob in the early-morning hours of July 4, 2008 after --- the neighbors' two small children--who wandered away from what sounds like a real barnburner of an up-all-night party--knocked on Bell and Fair's door, and were allowed to stand in the doorway while Bell prepared to go over and locate Mommy.

Somebody at the party saw the kids knock on Bell's apartment door, so the paragon of motherly concern came to collect her children, slinging unspeakable accusations although the kids were safe and sound. That was when all hell broke loose. A posse formed and proceeded to kick the shit out of Bell and Fair amid a barrage of homophobic epithets.

Police were summoned and, natch, it was Bell who was arrested--none of the assailants were so much as questioned, from what I can tell.

Clearly, this was a hate crime, pure and simple--had Bell and Fair been some heterosexual couple there's no way things would have turned so ugly so quickly. But, because they are gay (which to some peoples' minds is equivalent to being a child rapist) the boozed-up revelers decided to go over and teach the faggots a lesson. 

As far as I know, there was no further investigation into the attack. This means, of course, that it's open season on gay men--want to bash a queer? Perfectly OK--just be sure to accuse him of being a child molester first.

Bell faces charges of kidnapping and robbery (robbery? WTF?). The trial is scheduled for the week of Sept. 21.