12-21-2015, 12:41 PM
Hate Crime prosecutions, which increase the severity of the charges/sentence, have typically been pursued by the Feds. States have generally been hesitant to pursue them. Now, they're starting to be pursued at the local level.
Case in point...
![[Image: larger.jpg]](https://assets.dnainfo.com/generated/photo/2015/12/hate-crime-conviction-1450461508.jpg/larger.jpg)
The defendant, 26-year-old Mashawn Sonds (left), faces up to 25 years in prison for an October 2014 attack on a transgender woman in Brooklyn, New York.
Sonds was convicted of first-degree assault as a hate crime. It was the first trial conviction secured by the Brooklyn D.A.'s newly-created Hate Crime Unit, which is a part of its Civil Rights Bureau.
The violent attack took place on a Brooklyn street where Kimball Hartman (right) was walking with a gay male friend.
First, the pair was approached by a group that included Sonds, according to the DA's statement. One yelled, "We don't want faggots on our block," among other anti-gay slurs.
Sonds then picked up a piece of plexiglass and swung it at Hartman. As she tried to get away, he threw the plexiglass and struck her in the head, knocking her unconscious and causing Hartman to have seizures.
Hartman suffered profuse bleeding from the back of her head, according to the DA's office. She sustained a traumatic brain injury, underwent surgery to her skull, and will likely suffer permanent injuries.
Sonds will be sentenced on January 16th.
Ref: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hate-crime-c...er-attack/
Case in point...
The defendant, 26-year-old Mashawn Sonds (left), faces up to 25 years in prison for an October 2014 attack on a transgender woman in Brooklyn, New York.
Sonds was convicted of first-degree assault as a hate crime. It was the first trial conviction secured by the Brooklyn D.A.'s newly-created Hate Crime Unit, which is a part of its Civil Rights Bureau.
The violent attack took place on a Brooklyn street where Kimball Hartman (right) was walking with a gay male friend.
First, the pair was approached by a group that included Sonds, according to the DA's statement. One yelled, "We don't want faggots on our block," among other anti-gay slurs.
Sonds then picked up a piece of plexiglass and swung it at Hartman. As she tried to get away, he threw the plexiglass and struck her in the head, knocking her unconscious and causing Hartman to have seizures.
Hartman suffered profuse bleeding from the back of her head, according to the DA's office. She sustained a traumatic brain injury, underwent surgery to her skull, and will likely suffer permanent injuries.
Sonds will be sentenced on January 16th.
Ref: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hate-crime-c...er-attack/