Halloween Hate Crime: A Ghost of a Story

Jan. 12, 2007 — -- It's a case with headline-grabbing details, even for Southern California --home to the trial of the century.

Girls and boys gone wild on Halloween night. An alleged hate crime, a violent attack fueled by racial slurs. The "F" word. The "B" word.

Parents of the suspects accuse prosecutors of making a rush tojudgment. Meanwhile, a virtual stable of defense attorneys is accused of putting prosecution witnesses at risk by leaking their names.

There are reluctant witnesses and those facing intimidation by reportedgang members. A witness known as the Good Samaritan may now be too afraid to return to the stand. And then there's the race card.

Defense attorneys charge that the case is being tried in the media by anaggressive local newspaper.

But there are critics who say the story hovers ghostlike on the national scene garnering little attention, perhaps because it turns traditional notions of racially motivated violence on their head. The victims are white and the suspects are black.

In the affluent Bixby Knolls neighborhood of Long Beach, Calif., Halloween is a big event. Homeowners go all out, creating an eye-popping fright night that draws trick-or-treaters from around Southern California.

But last October 31, the festive evening turned into a brutal nightmare for three young women attacked by a mob outside a haunted house.

Trial testimony during the past two months indicated the three young white women had some exchange of words with a group of black revelers outside the haunted house. That encounter reportedly escalated from playful banter to aggressive taunting and physical violence.

According to prosecutors, the three victims were pelted with lemons and small pumpkins by a crowd that grew to about 30 people. Racial epithets were reportedly hurled at the victims as well: "We hate white people, f------ whites!

A black witness dubbed the Good Samaritan because he came to the aid of one of the victims testified: "I heard 'all right b----, all right b----, what it do?!" The mood of the crowd grew darker and darker, according to testimony.