TX assault not a federal hate crime..."Occurred on private property"

[rainbow4321]

WTF??

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8HHQHBO0.html

An 18-year-old man charged in an attack that left a Hispanic youth in intensive care was assaulted by two Harris County inmates shortly after he was jailed, officials said.

David Tuck was punched in the mouth and back of the head April 27, the same day the media reported that he was charged with aggravated sexual assault in the attack on the 17-year-old in Spring. Robert Keith Turner, 17, was also charged in the April 22 beating.

Authorities said the teenagers, both of Spring, tortured the victim, beat him and sodomized him with a plastic pipe in a subdivision backyard. At least one of the assailants allegedly used ethnic slurs.

Tuck's attack on the Hispanic teen, who remains in intensive care at a Houston hospital, has fueled controversy about hate crime laws. FBI officials have said Tuck and Turner cannot be charged under the federal hate crime statute because the attack occurred on private property.

[KingFlorez]

1. Murder occurs on private property sometimes

As do most crimes, I'd say at a large percentage do occur on private property. It makes no sense at all.

[dubeskin]

2. That's stupid

Techincally, everywhere but the streets and county/state buildings are private property, right? So if I kill someone in my house, I won't be charged then because it was on my private property?

[xultar]

4. If you attack someone because they are Black, Gay, Hispanic or Jewish

on your property it is not a hate crime.

[xultar]

3. Matthew Shepards attack occured on private property. WTF.

[rpannier]

5. I googled info on the story last week. It is a very strange story.

The description of the teens involved covers a whole range of opinions.
A couple of neighbors said they were nice kids who were quite pleasant. Some neighbors said they were the, "Neighbors from hell." Some nieghbors said they were somewhere in between.
Some neighbors said they were skinheads, others said they weren't.

One report said the girl and her brother watched them beat this kid. Another report said they didn't.

The more I read about the story, the less sense it made. It just seemed to be one long set of contradictory stories.
There seem to be only about five things that didn't change in any story I read:
1. They beat and sodomized this kid.
2. The boy they beat up is hispanic.
3. There was a claim they did it because he was tried to kiss a 13 year old girl.
4. The girl is hispanic.
5. Neither of the two feel any remorse for what they did.

That it occurred on private property shouldn't even be an issue. But the way this crime seems to be playing out, I'm not totally surprised.

[Ms. Clio]

6. huh WHAT????

WTF???

[unblock]

7. this doesn't mean there won't be a prosecution

just because the federal government doesn't have jurisdiction.

the state still does.

[philosophie_en_rose]

8. That makes no sense at all.

If someone snorts coke in their own home --> are they now not violating federal drug laws?

:shrug:


It's plain that the FBI just doesn't want these guys prosecuted. Don't want to send a message to violent racists, apparently.

[rainbow4321]

10. TX hate crime law "lessens the suspects' sentences"

http://www.khou.com/news/local/crime/stories/khou060508_cd_lulac.1f013253.html

The FBI said one of the reasons a hate crime enhancer won’t be used is because of where the crime took place. According to federal law, it can’t be considered a hate crime if it takes place on private property.

The teens allegedly beat their victim in the backyard of a home. Because the attack did not happen in a public place, the FBI said, under the law, it can’t pursue a federal hate crime. Even though there appears to be some evidence that ethnic slurs were used before the beating, prosecutors said they wouldn’t charge the two with hate crimes.
<snip>

The incident has garnered national attention and the prosecutor decided not to pursue the optional hate crime charges because it would not enhance the possible first-degree felony charges or penalties. However, State Senator Rodney Ellis plans to introduce legislation that would change that.

The state’s hate crime law would actually lessen the sentence for the two suspects. So the family looked to lawmakers for help on the legality of hate, while looking elsewhere for the origin of it.

[philosophie_en_rose]

11. It figures. Keep your lynchings private in Texas for a lower sentence.

:eyes:

[rucky]

9. LULAC isn't denying that's a limitation of the hate crime law.

I'm guessing it's a matter of State/Fed jurisdiction, and I wouldn't doubt it if Texas makes a death penalty case out of it.