Posted on 05/29/2012 7:54:07 PM PDT by madprof98
As two men pleaded guilty Tuesday to beating a gay man outside a southwest Atlanta convenience store earlier this year, the attorney for one of them disclosed his client would be prosecuted under a federal hate crime statute.
The lawyer for Dorian Moragne, one of four men charged in the Feb. 4 videotaped assault, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that his client would face a federal charge in the incident.
Moragne, 19, and co-defendant Dareal Demare Williams, 18, accepted non-negotiated plea deals Tuesday in Fulton County Superior Court on charges of aggravated assault, robbery and participation in gang activity. They could face up to 75 years in prison.
Moragne's attorney, Jay Abt, said federal authorities "flew a lawyer down here personally to inform us." Abt previously stated the attack on Brandon White was "not a hate crime."
Georgia does not have a hate-crimes statute, but Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Gabriel Banks said the assault on White was motivated by a perceived sexual advance.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment on the possibility of federal charges.
Abt said he assumes Moragne's co-defendants -- represented by public defenders -- will also be charged.
A plea deal for Christopher Cain, 19, was delayed because his attorney could not appear in court Tuesday. A fourth suspect, Javaris Bradford, 24, who allegedly taped the beating, remains at large.
White told reporters Tuesday he "feels good" about the latest developments.
"Justice will be served," he said. "It's been a journey. I've been down. Boy, have I been down."
The attack on the slightly built 20-year-old was videotaped and posted online, presumably by the defendants, at least one of whom can be overheard shouting gay slurs. The violent assault mobilized the city's LGBT community, with advocates pointing out that Georgia is one of only five states without a hate crimes law.
“An assault prosecution is not enough in this case," Georgia Equality Deputy Director Melinda Sheldon said in a statement.
"It is important to make a statement to would-be offenders, as well as to the gay and transgender community, and other targeted communities in Georgia, that bias-motivated crimes intended to intimidate and terrorize an entire community will absolutely not be tolerated and will receive maximum punishment," Sheldon said.
According to Abt, Moragne will be charged under the 2009 Matthew Shepard Act, which gives federal authorities jurisdiction to pursue hate crimes prosecutions.
In addition, the "victim" in this incident did not even report it to the local police, and now it has become a FEDERAL crime. Evidently Obama has pulled out all stops in his campaign to raise mega-bucks from the Gay Grievance Groupies.
Whatever happened to double jeopardy?
The perfect leftist scenario for gay pandering, all the players are black protected class members.
I thought that this might be a first, with “minority” defendants being charged with a hate crime.
Then I read that their attack was against a homosexual, so I figured that this must be the PC version of scissors-paper-stone.
After looking up the story, I see that all involved are “minority”.
Two theories shot down. What did I learn? Don’t assume anything.
Claim they are Native Americans like Ms. Warren
Hate crime charges-—Proof our justice system is screwed up and for sale to special interests.
“...the assault on White was motivated by a perceived sexual advance.”
So if some drunk guy makes a lewd suggestion to a woman in a bar and she punches him, it is not just a “hate crime”, but “an attack on all males”. Same logic.
The extreme of this is when a gay man cross-dresses, then pretends to be a woman in public with the intent to defraud a heterosexual male out of their money and time, that he wanted to spend on trying to find a female heterosexual with intent to form a relationship with her.
Yet the courts offer no, zero, relief to this heterosexual man for being defrauded, yet protects the fraud from retaliation for their scheme.
Ironically as all get out, if a heterosexual male pretends to be a homosexual with the intent of defrauding homosexuals, he may be charged with petty theft.
That would be "Princess Running Weasel Taking Scalps" to you, Paleface.
I hadn't bothered to notice this hypocrisy in law until you pointed it out.
Thanks, another point to prove that law and justice are nowhere near the same thing.
A historical first: MSM slobbering feeding frenzy over a black on black “hate crime”.
It’s a hate crime to smack a gay man, but not one to bugger his arse and tell him he has no other alternatives in life... go figure
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