Mistrial in Satender Singh killing case
Posted by Vox on 19 June 2008
This sucks. I just don’t even know what else to say about it.
A mistrial was declared Wednesday in Sacramento Superior Court on hate-crime charges against a man linked to a volatile feud at Lake Natoma last summer that killed Satender Singh.
After more than four days of tense deliberations, the jury of seven women and five men could not agree on whether the defendant was involved in the confrontation because he believed Singh was gay.
The panel emerged before noon and told Judge Gary S. Mullen that they were “irrevocably deadlocked” on the hate-crime allegation that Aleksandr Shevchenko, 22, faced for his role in last year’s fight.
The Sacramento man was found guilty on two misdemeanor counts: disturbing the peace and simple assault for throwing a bottle.
He could face a maximum sentence of about nine months in jail when he returns to court on July 11.
It remained unclear Wednesday whether the District Attorney’s Office would re-try Shevchenko on the controversial hate-crime charge. [Full story]
The bolded parts are the most infuriating. This man was involved in a fight that killed another person (although he did not throw the fatal punch). If I remember correctly, witnesses saw and heard him call Satender Singh both racist and homophobic slurs. But the jury is not sure if it’s a hate crime and he’s facing a maximum of nine months?
Would that be the outcome if the roles were reversed?
