May 20, 2013
Associated Press Release
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A former Florida high school teacher and football coach is due to testify that he endured taunts and racial insults from a Utah man he's accused of killing with a single punch outside a Las Vegas Strip casino restroom.
Benjamin Gerard Hawkins is scheduled to testify Thursday afternoon in his involuntary manslaughter trial in the July 2011 death of 38-year-old John Massie.
Hawkins is black and from Gainesville, Fla. Massie was white and from Roy, Utah.
Both were visiting Las Vegas when they encountered each other in a restroom at O'Shea's Casino.
Hawkins told police he was defending himself when he punched Massie following derogatory comments about his race.
Silent security video shows the two men a few feet apart before Hawkins turns and throws the punch.
AP-WF-11-29-12 1612GMT
