Hate-crime acquittal becomes rallying cry

By JESSE WASHINGTON

Teenagers, a small town and alcohol. Tension between whites and a growing Hispanic population. Ethnic slurs, punches and kicks. A dead illegal immigrant from Mexico.

The acquittal of white Pennsylvania teenagers of all serious charges this month in the death of Luis Ramirez has become a rallying cry for justice among Hispanics who feel increasingly under attack here in America. It also has exposed difficulties in enforcing hate-crime laws designed to keep minorities from becoming targets.

Civil-rights groups and elected officials were planning a news conference today to urge the Justice Department to prosecute the Ramirez case after the state-court acquittals, and to renew calls for passage of a federal hate-crimes bill that would expand enforcement and extend protection to gay and transgender individuals.

The bill has passed the House, and President Barack Obama has said he will sign it.

Even with the new law, prosecutors still would have to delve into the minds of people accused of committing crimes based on race, color, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

That can be easy when a swastika is sprayed on a synagogue. It can be harder to pinpoint the emotions that make a random encounter turn deadly.

“To prove someone’s state of mind beyond a reasonable doubt, and therefore the motivation someone had to commit a crime, that can be very difficult,” said Morgan Scott, a former U.S. attorney in Virginia who currently teaches law at Roanoke College. Former federal prosecutor Sunny Hostin said bias crimes that end in death are even harder to prove because the victim can’t testify.

But Hostin says the laws still need to be enforced. “It’s not only about punishment, it’s about deterrence,” she said. “In a society that’s always evolving, you need to send a message that hate will not be tolerated.”

On July 12, a half-dozen high school football players were headed home from a block party in the coal town of Shenandoah, Pa., which has attracted Hispanic immigrants with jobs in factories and farm fields. They came across Ramirez, 25, and his 15-year-old girlfriend in a park.

An argument broke out and the football players hurled ethnic slurs, although lawyers disputed who said exactly what. Defense attorneys called Ramirez the aggressor.

Soon Ramirez and Brandon Piekarsky were trading punches. Derrick Donchak jumped in — his lawyers said to break up the fight — and wound up on top of Ramirez. Prosecutors said he pummeled Ramirez while gripping a small piece of metal to give his punches more power; defense attorneys denied he had a weapon.

The fight wound down but the argument continued. Ramirez charged the group. He was knocked out by a punch to the face. Prosecutors said he was killed by Piekarsky’s kick to the head; defense lawyers said another teen delivered the fatal blow.

Piekarsky was acquitted by an all-white jury of third-degree murder and ethnic intimidation; Donchak was acquitted of aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation. Both were convicted of simple assault, which carry possible one- to two-year prison sentences.

The May 1 verdicts were decried by Hispanic advocates who say Ramirez’s death is part of a rising tide of hate crimes against Latinos.

“This was not a tragedy in isolation. It’s just representative of what we’re seeing nationwide,” said John Amaya, an attorney for MALDEF, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.