A federal judge has dismissed a $40 million lawsuit against New York’s Suffolk County and its police department in connection with the November 2008 hate crime that killed Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorian immigrant. Lucero was taunted and then stabbed to death by a group of white teenagers who had been looking for a Hispanic person to assault. His family had brought a suit accusing local and police officials of responsibility for the murder because of a “indifferent and unconstitutional failure to provide equal [protection]” for immigrants. But in a newly unsealed ruling, U.S. District Judge Leonard Wexler invalidated the suit on the grounds the accused officials weren’t adequately served with court papers. Lucero’s brother, Joselo Lucero, said: “I believe that this court is rushing to decide everything in the county’s and police’s favor.”