8 blacks convicted of hate attack in Long Beach

[azrom]

A judge Friday found that eight black teenagers beat three white women in Long Beach out of racial hatred, ending a divisive trial that was muddled by conflicting testimony and accusations of witness intimidation.

Judge Gibson Lee upheld nearly all of the prosecution’s counts in a case that roiled this diverse city with its core allegation: that nine girls and a boy visited a well-to-do part of Long Beach on Halloween night and beat three women to the ground because they were white.

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Those convicted were eight females — a 13-year-old, two 14-year-olds, two 16-year-olds, a 17-year-old and two 18-year-olds — and an 18-year-old male. The oldest defendants were tried as juveniles because they were 17 when the crimes occurred.

Handcuffed to their chairs, the defendants broke down as Lee read the rulings. Nine were convicted of felony assault, eight with a hate-crime enhancement. For four of the nine, the conviction will count as a first strike under California’s three-strikes law, which mandates a life term for a third felony conviction if the first two were for “serious” or “violent” felonies.

One girl cradled another’s head. A 13-year-old girl buried her face in her gray Juvenile Hall sweat shirt and sobbed. Their parents’ mouths hung open in disbelief.

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The three victims — Loren Hyman, 21; Laura Schneider, 19; and Michelle Smith, 19 — sat together in the front row, showing no emotion at the verdicts. Concerned about their security, they later went to “safe places” for the weekend without making public comment, said Doug Otto, their civil attorney.

“They’re gratified that their version of what occurred seems to be vindicated by the court’s decision,” Otto said. “They feel that justice is beginning to be done in this case.”

Otto said all three women felt victimized again by some of the comments that defendants’ supporters made during the contentious trial. “There’s not a scintilla of evidence that they provoked these things,” he said.

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The incident had ignited outrage in Long Beach since it was first reported in a front-page Press-Telegram article that labeled it “a horrific hate crime” and quoted the victims as comparing the culprits to “a pack of hyenas.” Residents of Bixby Knolls expressed a range of emotions: Some railed against political leaders for not quickly addressing their fears; others urged that the case not be prejudged.

As the case went to trial, it resonated beyond Long Beach, generating heated discussion on talk radio and drawing national media attention. City officials called for unity and held numerous meetings to ease racial tensions. The court proceeding often did little to dampen the emotion, but rather demonstrated how messy the workings of the justice system can be.

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Deputy Dist. Atty. Andrea Bouas relied on victim Hyman and an eyewitness, Kiana Alford, to describe how the defendants attacked the three young women because they were white.

Hyman testified that she and her two friends were at Bixby Road and Linden Avenue — where hundreds of people are drawn every year by elaborate Halloween displays — when a black male in a crowd began to sexually taunt her.

Hyman said that the women ignored the jibes but that the crowd grew angry. Someone yelled, “I hate … white people,” as others began to pelt the women with small pumpkins and lemons, Hyman testified. As the trio tried to walk away up Linden, the mob grabbed them and began to pummel them.

Hyman suffered multiple fractures in her nose and around her eye, and will require surgery to reposition her eye. Schneider was knocked unconscious and probably suffered a concussion. Smith’s injuries were not detailed in court, but Otto said her lung was bruised.

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All manner of digressions and histrionics in the courtroom complicated the trial.

The judge allowed witnesses to testify anonymously, then reversed himself three times. During her testimony, Alford’s car was rammed in front of her home; prosecutors said it was witness intimidation. In open court Bouas blamed defense attorneys for witness intimidation. A deputy public defender repeatedly accused Bouas of misconduct and asked for mistrials. Bouas accused the defendants of being gang members. The judge spoke so softly that attorneys often spoke over him.

As the trial plodded on, the 10 defendants passed notes, braided each other’s hair and occasionally giggled at bits of testimony, such as when a probation officer listed the contents of one girl’s pocket: 15 cents.

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