ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia man accused of throwing boiled water on a same-sex couple sleeping in an apartment acted recklessly but wasn't motivated by hate or malice, his defense attorney said Wednesday. Martin Blackwell is charged with eight counts of aggravated battery and two counts of aggravated assault in the attack that left Anthony Gooden and Marquez Tolbert with severe burns that required multiple surgeries. Defense attorney Monique Walker acknowledged that Blackwell poured water on the pair and deserves to be punished, but she asked jurors to find that it was reckless conduct. Blackwell, 48, was a long-distance truck driver and lived with his girlfriend, Kim Foster, at her sister's apartment in College Park when he was in town. Prosecutors asked jurors to find Blackwell guilty of aggravated battery for disfigurement and loss of use of body parts and guilty of aggravated assault for dumping the hot water on them.