Posted on 02/03/2007 6:53:10 AM PST by Menehune56
LONG BEACH – Angering one victim's family, a judge yesterday sentenced four black youths to probation with 60 days of home detention in the racially motivated Halloween beatings of three white women.
The sentences by Juvenile Court Judge Gibson Lee touched off another series of bitter words in a case that seems to spark outrage at every step. For the past few months, it has tested the harmony of this coastal city of 475,000, which touts its diversity.
“The juvenile system is a joke,” said Barbara Schneider, as her 19-year-old daughter, Laura, sobbed on her shoulder. Her comments outside court came after Lee passed sentence on the only male defendant of the nine youths convicted last week in the attack. The defendant is 18, but was 17 on Halloween. Prosecutors contended that he was the most culpable of all the convicted defendants.
“If these nine were tried in adult court, which some of them should have been, they would have gotten 13 years for what they did,” Barbara Schneider said.
Lee said in court that he appreciated the severity of the attack – one victim, 21-year-old Loren Hyman, suffered multiple fractures of her nose and around her eye – but he reminded those in attendance that it was a juvenile court. He noted that juvenile court judges “must pick the least restrictive disposition that can lead to the rehabilitation of the minor.”
He ordered the defendants – the 18-year-old man, his twin sister, their 16-year-old sister and another 16-year-old girl – to perform 250 hours of community service and to undergo anger-management counseling. They had been in custody since Halloween.
A defense lawyer said the probation could last until the defendants are 21, but could end earlier. Punishment could have ranged up to confinement in a California Youth Authority lockup until age 25.
Twelve youths were charged in the attack on Laura Schneider, 19-year-old Michelle Smith and Hyman, who yesterday underwent surgery related to the beating.
Last week, Lee convicted nine defendants, ages 13 to 18, on assault charges and found a hate-crime allegation true against eight. He also acquitted a 12-year-old defendant. Two boys are awaiting a separate trial stemming from the attack. The five remaining convicted defendants will be sentenced next week.
The charges stem from an incident on a street in Long Beach's well-to-do Bixby Knolls neighborhood, known for its elaborate Halloween displays.
The three women said they were out in the neighborhood when a group of about 40 black teenagers began taunting them and throwing lemons and small pumpkins at them.
Prosecutors alleged that someone yelled, “I hate (expletive) white people!” Members of the group then began to beat the women. Schneider suffered a concussion.
Yesterday, the victims' families claimed that the judge's sentences were political. But the defendants' families were pleased with Lee's actions, hugging outside court.
No hate crime there...if you're a liberal. It's just "frustration" at injustice.
What was this mob of hoodlums doing in a well-to-do neighborhood anyway?
Is this a white neighborhood? If it is, well I think the citizens of that neighborhood should be organizing themselves for the next mob that decides to hang out in their neighborhood.
What was this mob of hoodlums doing in a well-to-do neighborhood anyway?
Is this a white neighborhood? If it is, well I think the citizens of that neighborhood should be organizing themselves for the next mob that decides to hang out in their neighborhood.
Just look at the HELL Michael Richards encountered for saying a few hateful things to some black folks (not even laying a hand on them)!
Whatever happened with that incident?
Haven't seen it in the media lately.
Sadly, this ruling will only encourage white supremacists to come out and start attacking blacks now. These kids should have gotten lengthy prison terms.
I agree. It is verdicts like this that are slowly fanning the flames of a full blown race war.
Good idea!
"Sadly, this ruling will only encourage..."
JUSTICE to grind it wheels ever so painfully and ever so fine.
We have our lessons to endure. All of us.
Let us all be wise and as brave as we can muster.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.