Posted on 01/27/2007 4:48:00 AM PST by radar101
Beating victims and family members are escorted out the back of the Long Beach Courthouse. Stephen Carr / Press-Telegram
Mark, a parent of one of the youths accused in the beating, reacts to the verdicts outside the Long Beach Courthouse. Nick Ut / Associated Press
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Three words helped elevate a brutal assault to a hate crime in the eyes of a judge: "I hate whites."
The shout and ensuing attack on three white women by a group of young blacks last Halloween led Friday to the conviction of nine of 10 defendants - including eight girls - in a racially charged assault trial in Juvenile Court.
Judge Gibson Lee also found hate-crime enhancements against eight defendants to be true, along with enhancements of causing great bodily injury against six. A 12-year-old girl was acquitted.
Defendants hugged before the verdicts were read and some cried afterward.
About 100 people gathered outside the courthouse to learn the verdicts, then dispersed. Angry black community leaders criticized the decision while prosecutors sought to focus attention on the young women who were beaten.
Police officers patrolling the city were instructed to be on alert throughout the weekend for possible protests in reaction to the verdicts, said Officer Jackie Bezart.
"Today's not a happy day," said Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Brian Schirn. "The victims still have to undergo physical treatment, emotional treatment."
Mark Crouch, 43, of Florida, whose 14-year-old daughter was convicted, said he wasn't angry and believed his daughter has shown compassion to the victims. But he disagreed with the hate-crime finding.
"It's not right to say she doesn't like white people," he said. "All we can do now is move on."
Defense attorney Frank Williams, who represented a 17-year-old girl who was convicted, said he was "disheartened" and "puzzled" by the verdict.
"It's almost like someone died," Williams said. "Nine spirits did die."
A representative of the beaten women, Douglas Otto, said they feel vindicated by the verdict and hope the defendants will "admit their wrongdoing and let the healing begin."
Otto also said the women's lives have been irreparably damaged.
Lee scheduled a Jan. 31 hearing to hear victim impact statements and set a sentencing date. The assailants could receive sentences ranging from probation to confinement in the California Youth Authority until they reach the age of 25.
The defendants ranged in age from 12 to 18. Two who were minors at the time turned 18 since the incident.
All were charged with felony assault by any means of force likely to produce great bodily injury.
Two 15-year-old boys face trial later on charges of felony assault with the hate-crime enhancement.
As in all juvenile trials, a judge decided the case rather than a jury.
The attack occurred in an upscale area of the city known for its elaborate Halloween decorations.
Long Beach has a racially diverse population of 475,000 and neighborhoods ranging from high-end shoreline condos to low-income urban areas.
Prosecutors said the confrontation began when a crowd of young blacks threw objects at the three women, two who were 19 and one who was 21. Some hurled racial insults at the women and one was heard shouting "I hate whites," authorities said.
A group then attacked the victims, knocking them to the ground. The beating only ceased when a black man driving by stopped, pulled the assailants away and shielded the women with his body, prosecutors said.
Deputy District Attorney Andrea Bouas called the incident a "mauling" and discounted some testimony that it was more of a fight than an attack. Prosecutors relied mainly on witnesses who said they saw some or all of the beating.
Other evidence included a victim's cell phone found in a defendant's car and blood found on a defendant's pants. But the judge barred DNA evidence the prosecution said proved the blood was from one victim, citing time constraints in the trial.
Defense attorneys tried to discredit a key prosecution witness, saying it was too dark and she was too far away to see who the assailants were. They also deemed a police identification procedure "tainted" because the victims and witnesses weren't asked to describe the attackers until they were shown the 10 suspects.
Only one of the victims testified. Loren Hymon - who suffered multiple fractures to her face - said earrings and hairstyles helped her identify four assailants.
The male defendant testified that he didn't hit any of the women.
The trial at one point was overshadowed by suspected witness intimidation. A prosecution witness was put under police escort after she awoke to find six men sitting on her car. Her vehicle was later rammed by someone as she spoke in court, which led the judge to allow witnesses to testify anonymously. Lee later reversed his decision.
Shoe is on the other foot?
i personally never want to hear"i'm a victem of a hate crime", ever again. NEVER AGAIN. it's overused and irrelivent anyway. if a black dude assults a white girl or vice versa, it's an assult. that's all it needs to be
When are we going to prosecute people for what they did and not what they think ?
I agree with you. There is no reason that a crime should be elevated over another just because of what race they are. Sex included.
"There is no reason that a crime should be elevated over another just because of what race they are. Sex included."
All true, but as long as the law remains on the books it should be administered equally.
Savages. Lock 'em up.....toss the key.
Does anyone know if these are the first non-white hate crime convictions?
Wonder how the parents would have reacted if it had been white children beating up blacks, never mind I know there would have been riots.
Jesse Jackson & Al Sharpton....were for art thou?
Nice to see thew law being applied equally regardless of race, however unfair the law may be in the first place. A few more of these cases might finally convince people that hate crimes rules are unfair to begin with and maybe we can wipe them off the books.
My bet is on the perps...they will eventually get off....400 years of racism ya know...it excuses all hostile actions by the oppressed....
Can you imagine if the races were reversed, three black girls were mauled by a group of whites and a black witness was intimidated?
Can you imagine whites threatening to riot because of a verdict?
There's a double standard. I guess we have lower expectations about the behavior of blacks.
Why did the beating victims and there families have to be escorted out of the back of the court building? They did nothing wrong!!!
Just think. If it had been a love crime everything would have been fine. /sarc off.
In southern California this week, maybe.
"All we can do now is move on." Yep, no hate whatsoever. /sarc
There is a double standard and it has been effective for almost 5 decades to excuse all behaviour by the black community. However, I sincerely believe the window is closing for them. People are really tired of hearing the rhetoric and hopefully bringing back common sense.
If you do something wrong, and I call you on it--know that it's not because your black... it's because you've done something wrong. duh
The racist card just doesn't work anymore. The black community has had a long time to take advantage of the collective guilt of the white community. By and large, they haven't, and now the window of opportunity has begun to close. We've got the Muslim community to hate now and in my estimation, justifiably so. And they may just be much more dangerous than the black community has ever been.
"hate crime....it's overused and irrelevant anyway.....if a black dude assaults a white girl or vice versa, it's an assault...."
read prior post......."shoe is on the other foot..."
could it possibly be that not all hate crimes are committed by "bigoted, privileged, arrogant" white people.
check out the number of racial assaults in schools which are swept under the rug because they don't coincide with the revolutionary plan.
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