Jury Finds Teens Not Guilty of Hate Crime in Beating Death of Latino; Some Rejoice

[marmar]

via AlterNet:



Jury Finds Teens Not Guilty of Hate Crime in Beating Death of Latino; Some Rejoice

By David Neiwert , Orcinus. Posted May 6, 2009.

The facts of the case were clear, but an all-white jury decided to let a mob of racist teens off easy.



You don't have to have been from rural Pennsylvania to have been able to predict the outcome of this case:

Some satisfied, others outraged with verdict for immigrant's death

Friends and relatives of two teens accused in the beating death of a Mexican immigrant struggled to contain their relief as not-guilty verdicts were announced on the most serious charges against the former high school football stars Friday.

Gasps filled the courtroom and some had to be restrained by sheriff's deputies as they tried to rush the defense table after Derrick Donchak, 19, and Brandon Piekarsky, 17, were acquitted of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and ethnic intimidation for the death of Luis Ramirez.

Piekarsky was also found not guilty of third-degree murder for the death of Ramirez, who died of blunt force injuries after an encounter with the teens last summer.

As Avery Friedman argues persuasively in the video from CNN yesterday, this was a pretty clear-cut case of jury nullification: the weight of evidence against the accused was so powerful that it's clear the all-white jury -- like similar juries in the South during the Civil Rights struggle -- was not going to convict two young white men of murdering a Mexican. Even if, as Friedman says, "the only reason he is dead is because he was Mexican." ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/immigration/139827/jury_finds_teens_not_guilty_of_hate_crime_in_beating_death_of_latino%3B_some_rejoice/

[Cid_B]

1. In his oh so humble opinion...

... there have been several thread ( at least ) that state the opposite is true and that the prosecution gave a weak case among other things. Check it out...