High profile victims shine light on hate crimes
After the alleged beating of two LGBT activists in downtown Palm Springs our station has been taking a more in depth look at hate crimes and how they are prosecuted.
According to a Department of Justice study there are 250,000 hate crimes every year in the United States. To put that in perspective, that’s 684 hate crimes a day or 28 hate crimes every hour.
Advocates for minorities that are sometimes attacked find that hate crimes with high profile people as victims help bring these crimes to the forefront.
Keith Terranova, 35, entered a ‘not guilty’ plea after being charged with assault and a hate crime. Police say Terranova and another man, who is still at large, attacked Chris and George Zander in downtown Palm Springs on November 1, 2015.
Chris Zander suffered a concussion and needed staples to the back of his head. George Zander suffered a broken hip that required surgery. The Zanders are prominent LGBT activists in Palm Springs.
KESQ talked to Roger Tansey a local public defense attorney who has handled hate crime cases for decades. We asked him what makes prosecuting a hate crime case different than a regular assault charge.
“You have to prove intent, you have to prove what’s going on inside a persons head, and if they are attacking somebody with a baseball bat, a black man, and yelling the ‘N-word’ their job may be a little easier,” said Tansey.
A person convicted of a hate crime could spend several more years in prison.
“If you were charged with assault as a hate crime you would be looking at up to 7 years total, the hate crime part of it is adding the extra three years on top of the normal four. If you added in concert with someone else, so if there were two attackers, then the punishment becomes more severe,” said Tansey.
Thomi Clinton is the president and founder of the Transgender Community Coalition in Palm Springs. She’s seen how media attention can bring these crimes to the forefront.
“Hate crimes are still a problem in our community, 1 out of 8 trans women of color will face murder in their life time, and 1 out of 12 white trans women will face murder in their life time. Seeing the group of people who put all of their differences aside and come together to actually address this issue was I think the biggest impact in our community,” said Clinton.
Keith Terranova remains in custody in lieu of $80,000 bail. He’s due back in court next Wednesday. The other alleged assailant is still at large. The Palm Springs Police Department has not released any new information on that suspect.
