Hate crime charges filed in attack
Seven girls, one boy could face imprisonment until age 25 if convicted in Halloween beating.
By Tracy Manzer, Staff writer
Long Beach Press Telegram
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LONG BEACH - Hate crime charges were filed Wednesday against eight black teenagers accused in the brutal beating of three young white women on Halloween.
After reviewing the Police Department's investigation and conducting interviews with the victims, the Los Angeles district attorney's office decided to file hate crime allegations against eight of the 10 defendants, said spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.
The allegations add a four-year sentencing enhancement to charges already leveled against all 10 teens, including assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury.
Arraigned on the enhanced charge Wednesday in Long Beach Superior Court's Juvenile Division were one boy and seven girls, Gibbons said.
She declined to give their ages, and they have not been identified because they are minors.
Because they are juveniles, the maximum sentence each could receive if they are found guilty on all counts would be imprisonment in the California Youth Authority until they are 25, Gibbons said.
"Sentencing is at the complete discretion of the judge in both juvenile and adult court," she said. "In the Juvenile Division, they do try to work out sentences in the hope that these minors can be rehabilitated and, hopefully, to stop them continuing in a life of crime."
Their adjudication hearing, which is equivalent to a trial in the adult court, is scheduled to begin Tuesday, Gibbons said.
Attorneys for the 10 defendants could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the defense lawyers told the court the girls are good students and have no history of violence or criminal behavior. One of the girls won a full athletic scholarship to USC and represented the United States in a track meet in China, her attorney told the court.
Gibbons said the judge ordered that all 10 defendants remain in custody at Los Padrinos Juvenile Detention Center in Downey, where they have been since their arrest Oct. 31.
The 10 charged in the crime - ages 12 to 17 - were captured within minutes of the attack, which left the victims - two 19-year-olds and a 21-year-old - with broken bones, concussions, cuts and bruises.
Two 17-year-old boys from Long Beach were arrested by police in connection with the beating about a week later, but they have yet to be charged.
Police said the criminal investigation, and the search for more suspects, is ongoing.
The victims and neighbors who witnessed the beating said the three young women were attacked as they left a haunted house. It began with what some thought was a sexually suggestive remark from a male, and exploded, the victims said, when they ignored the taunts and tried to walk away.
They described being pelted with lemons and pumpkins, then beaten by a crowd of 20 to 40 people who swarmed around them shouting, "I hate whites" and "F--- whites."
One assailant used a skateboard to knock one of the 19-year-olds unconscious, then hit her as others jumped on her back while she lay in the street.
News of the incident enraged people in the community and across the country, triggering angry exchanges on Web sites and blogs.
Local officials and community leaders denounced the violence, but disagreement over whether the attack was a hate crime divided some within and outside the community.
Gibbons explained Wednesday that the decision to add the charge occurred after the DA's office reviewed extensive police investigations, talked to the victims and consulted with the DA's Hate Crimes office.
The local branch of the NAACP denounced the violence, but added it was concerned that the civil rights of everyone involved be protected.
Naomi Rainey, president of the local chapter, said she attended Wednesday's arraignment to monitor the case on behalf of the civil rights organization.
"The NAACP does not have sufficient investigative data to address (the issue of the hate crime charge) at this time," Rainey said.
"For the allegation of a hate crime to be found, it's my understanding that you have to go to an area specifically to single out a certain group because of their race, sex, religion, ethnicity, whatever," she said.
Doug Otto, a spokesman for the victims and their families, said: "The victims of this unprovoked and vicious attack and their families are grateful that the true nature of these assaults are finally being prosecuted. The victims' serious injuries, both physical and psychological, endure.
"They wish to thank Bixby Knolls residents and witnesses who came to their aid and offered comfort, care and first aid. They also wish to thank the Long Beach Police Department for their ongoing efforts to bring the guilty to justice."
