INTENSITY²
Start here => What's your crime? Basic Discussion => Topic started by: McGiver on November 23, 2006, 10:25:37 AM
-
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
Article Launched:
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."
-
Good that it at least works the other way around by you. If I wrote this on a Swedish site: "All niggers gonna die", I would likely go to jail for a month or two, but if I wrote "all Swedes gonna die", not a fucking thing would happen to me. :wanker:
-
Of course it's a hate crime when blacks hate whites, as well as the other way around, but not according to the stupid politically correct laws in this country. Only minorities are protected by the hate crime laws.
-
I remember in the sixth grade in Lake City Florida while on a school bus. This black girl I guess did not like Me at all. We ended up in a fight on the bus. Which even I hate to say She got the best of Me.
-
when i was a junior in HS, myself and a couple of friends were walking to the dance.
when we happend upon a grpoup of about 10 black dudes.
one of my friends (in a drunken and stoned state) said, "what's up jungle monkeys."
not smart, we got jumped.
-
All assaults invove hate so should be punished equally whether race is involved or not. I notice a lot of so-called equality groups arent too keen on standing up for white people who get attacked though.
-
generally it is all a double standard. that is why i posted this article, since it seems to be consistent inasmuch as all races are held equally responsible for their actions.
yet the thing that confounds me is, aren't we all human beings?
-
generally it is all a double standard. that is why i posted this article, since it seems to be consistent inasmuch as all races are held equally responsible for their actions.
yet the thing that confounds me is, aren't we all human beings?
Sure we are. Except for lawyers maybe. :eyebrows:
-
If we're going to have a "hate crime" concept in the law, it should be applied evenly.
However I have a problem with adding extra punishment to a crime, simply because of the attacker's beliefs or opinions. I mean, is it really worse to hurt someone because of their skin color, than for any other reason?
-
Or should rape be prosecuted less, because it is a "lust crime?" (Yes, I know rape is about domination and control, but there is lust in there too, otherwise the guy wouldn't get off on it.)
-
If we're going to have a "hate crime" concept in the law, it should be applied evenly.
However I have a problem with adding extra punishment to a crime, simply because of the attacker's beliefs or opinions. I mean, is it really worse to hurt someone because of their skin color, than for any other reason?
ask the guy in your avatar.
-
If we're going to have a "hate crime" concept in the law, it should be applied evenly.
However I have a problem with adding extra punishment to a crime, simply because of the attacker's beliefs or opinions. I mean, is it really worse to hurt someone because of their skin color, than for any other reason?
ask the guy in your avatar.
Let me consult quirkycarla's psychic :green:.
-
generally it is all a double standard. that is why i posted this article, since it seems to be consistent inasmuch as all races are held equally responsible for their actions.
yet the thing that confounds me is, aren't we all human beings?
Sure we are. Except for lawyers maybe. :eyebrows:
You say that now, but just wait until you are unjustly accused of commiting a crime or until the school district refuses to do the right thing for your child. Then you will be very grateful for lawyers.
-
You say that now, but just wait until you are unjustly accused of commiting a crime or until the school district refuses to do the right thing for your child. Then you will be very grateful for lawyers.
I didn't mean lawyers in that sense, I meant jurists. Law makers etc.
-
If we're going to have a "hate crime" concept in the law, it should be applied evenly.
However I have a problem with adding extra punishment to a crime, simply because of the attacker's beliefs or opinions. I mean, is it really worse to hurt someone because of their skin color, than for any other reason?
It often serves to encourage other racists to carry out murderous behavior, so in that sense, yes it is
-
All assaults invove hate so should be punished equally whether race is involved or not. I notice a lot of so-called equality groups arent too keen on standing up for white people who get attacked though.
Well our forefathers did sort of enslave their forefathers, which fucked up the whole socio-economic balance, so I figure I can't blame them for trying to get an edge in the game when they can.
-
All assaults invove hate so should be punished equally whether race is involved or not. I notice a lot of so-called equality groups arent too keen on standing up for white people who get attacked though.
Well our forefathers did sort of enslave their forefathers, which fucked up the whole socio-economic balance, so I figure I can't blame them for trying to get an edge in the game when they can.
i disagree.
i think that most advantages could be construed as enablers.
i say put everyone out there and let them sink or swim, based on their own abilities. force a human being to survive and 99.9 times out of 100, they will.
-
It often serves to encourage other racists to carry out murderous behavior, so in that sense, yes it is
So you agree with different tiers of punishment for different murderers? That some lifes are worth more than others. Disabled people get killed all the time because they are disabled. Are they labeled hate crimes?
-
a
Well our forefathers did sort of enslave their forefathers, which fucked up the whole socio-economic balance, so I figure I can't blame them for trying to get an edge in the game when they can.
Your forefathers personally? Are white people the only ones with a murky history? My forefathers where effectively Irish slaves. Do you think it's more acceptable for me to 'get and edge in the game' when i can?
-
Your forefathers personally? Are white people the only ones with a murky history? My forefathers where effectively Irish slaves. Do you think it's more acceptable for me to 'get and edge in the game' when i can?
Go to London and blow some fucking Englishmen up. 8)
-
Go to London and blow some fucking Englishmen up. 8)
Sound advice from a level-headed gun nut.
-
It often serves to encourage other racists to carry out murderous behavior, so in that sense, yes it is
So you agree with different tiers of punishment for different murderers? That some lifes are worth more than others.
no, you completely misunderstood me
Disabled people get killed all the time because they are disabled. Are they labeled hate crimes?
maybe they should be.
-
a
Well our forefathers did sort of enslave their forefathers, which fucked up the whole socio-economic balance, so I figure I can't blame them for trying to get an edge in the game when they can.
Your forefathers personally?
Not that I know of, but it is entirely possible, my mom's family has been in America for quite a few generations
Are white people the only ones with a murky history?
Nope!
My forefathers where effectively Irish slaves. Do you think it's more acceptable for me to 'get and edge in the game' when i can?
Sure!
-
All assaults invove hate so should be punished equally whether race is involved or not. I notice a lot of so-called equality groups arent too keen on standing up for white people who get attacked though.
And if they can't make any money from taking your case.
-
The main reson for Federal "hate" crime legislation was due to a lack of fair law enforcement in the south. Those who beat, murder and terrorise minorities were rarely brought to justice. We can blame rednecks for these laws.
-
... and there quite a few other laws, especially local county and city, everywhere, attributable to the rednecks, among us. They just never seem to know when to FUCK OFF.
-
This was 10 years ago. Things have gotten much worse since then.