Plea Bargain Ignores Hate Crime Murder N.H. Laotian American

[achtungbaby]

We are asking all concerned Asian Pacific Americans to contact the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office to express their outrage at a plea bargain struck in the murder of a Laotian American man (see previously posted article), Thung Phetakoune. Phetakoune, an elderly man, was brutally killed by Richard Labbe in a clear and shocking case of hate crime. After attacking Phetakoune, Labbe stated to a police officer investigating the crime, "[Referring to the Vietnam War] What's going on is that those Asians killed Americans and you won't do anything about it so I will."

(read more) (http://yellowworld.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=64)

[ImrkevinpakI]

hey, like they are going to something about this...it takes alot of time to get this thing set straight....

man, this hate is too hard to bear.

[kasia]

things can be done. the bar association i belong to agreed to send a letter pressuring the attorney general to press for first-degree murder. i will be drafting the letter which will be reviewed at the board meeting next week.

i spoke with an attorney on the board who informed me that, in most murder cases, the decision whether or not to press ahead for trial depends not on the facts of the case, but rather pressure from the public.

i would encourage all of you who belong to any asian organization (or non-asian organization) to write a letter to the Attorney General asking him not to drop the murder charge as well as to prosecute under the hate crime statute.

just think of it like this. if that were your father who was killed, and the motivation for his murder was the color of his skin--the color of your skin--would you feel that justice is served if the killer served only a sentence for manslaughter? the least the A.G. could do is attempt to convict the killer under the hate crime statute.

the need for justice becomes more real when we think of things in more personal terms. and the issue is personal. any one of us or our parents may be victims of a hate crime one day. let's do something to prevent that.

[kasia]

i preach a lot =p

but i don't mean to.

i just really really really would like people to get involved.

really :wink:

[ImrkevinpakI]

Look what happened to the Rodney king, Vincent Chin, Jason Hong, and other hate crimes out there....kasia, they either got acquitted or served lighter sentence.....

Ever heard of the Jaywalking incident in Seattle Washington last year?

[tapestrybabe]

[quote="ImrkevinpakI"]Look what happened to the Rodney king, Vincent Chin, Jason Hong, and other hate crimes out there....kasia, they either got acquitted or served lighter sentence.....[quote]

And I think this gives everyone all the more reason to DO SOMETHING, to write to the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office.. instead of remaining silent about it all... you know, infect the public with the truth...

[ImrkevinpakI]

But, do you think they ( the people who gives the final verdic or the solution ) will do anything about it? Alot of people complain about the vincent case and they did little to back up asian americans while the killers never spent a day in jail...

And with the rodney king incident, the blacks looted and vandalized every got damn korean stores because of the ruling. .. because of that, i have little respects for blacks...

[kasia]

[quote:a0af0b4b92="ImrkevinpakI"]Look what happened to the Rodney king, Vincent Chin, Jason Hong, and other hate crimes out there....kasia, they either got acquitted or served lighter sentence.....

Ever heard of the Jaywalking incident in Seattle Washington last year?[/quote:a0af0b4b92]

well, i only know the facts of the vincent chin and rodney king cases and i'll say this:

the cops in the rodney king case were acquitted, yes. the two men in the vincent chin case were never sentenced to prison despite the state and federal trials.

but the noise that we made--we as in the minority communities--made the lives of the officers in the rodney king case and the two men in vincent chin's case a living hell. and that is something.

it also raised awareness--and that is an [i:a0af0b4b92]extremely [/i:a0af0b4b92]hard thing to do. i know that now.

[achtungbaby]

[quote:009e36857e="ImrkevinpakI"]Look what happened to the Rodney king, Vincent Chin, Jason Hong, and other hate crimes out there....kasia, they either got acquitted or served lighter sentence...[/quote:009e36857e]

Justice isn't always easily expedited. Progress, a lot of times, is slow in coming. Sometimes it can take years to change perceptions and attitudes -- sometimes it can take a second, and I think it's important to constantly keep the pressure on as we wait for either of the two to happen.

[ChinaLama]

If I recall correctly, the Rodney King officers faced Federal charges after the riot, and I think they were found guilty that time. Vincent Chin, however, didn't get that justice because while the first federal judge found his killer guilty of a hate crime, the verdict was overturned on appeal. And largely because people didn't think it was racially motivated cuz the defendant never used a racial slur; what he said was "it's because of you motherfuckers that we're out of work." *sigh* well at least that kind of mistake is a lot rarer now b/c of the activism surrounding Vincent Chin's case (this is all blatantly ripped off fr Helen Zia's book: Asian American Dreams).

[achtungbaby]

[quote:3f1aedb96b="ChinaLama"]And largely because people didn't think it was racially motivated cuz the defendant never used a racial slur; what he said was "it's because of you motherfuckers that we're out of work."[/quote:3f1aedb96b]

Didn't you know? He was referring to Vincent and his friends [i:3f1aedb96b]only[/i:3f1aedb96b]. Everyone's an individual in this country and we shouldn't be lumped together, and he was mindful of that when he said it.

*belch*

[Arex]

Not sure if anyone's yet read this, but here's the (automated) response I got when I sent an e-mail to the NH AG website regarding Mr. Phetakoune:

[quote:042f3043b1]
The following statement was given to Foster's Daily Democrat, a Dover,
New Hampshire newspaper. It addresses some of the issues which may
be of concern to you. Also attached is a letter addressed to the Asian
American Resource Workshop which also responds to issues raised in
this matter.

June 18, 2002

To Foster's Daily Democrat

Gentlemen:

This letter is written in response to your anticipated request for
comment regarding the June 17 letter from the Asian American Resource
Workshop.

The Asian American advocacy group's letter of June 17, 2002 is
apparently based upon incomplete information. The State of New
Hampshire was able to plead the Labbe case to 15-30 years in the New Hampshire State Prison precisely because of the racial aspect of Thung Phetakoune's death. Had the racial element not existed, the result very likely would have been a prison term of five to ten years or less. The two most recent cases where the physical act was similar to this case - one push or one punch - the dispositions were significantly less harsh. Earlier this year, the case of State v. Joseph Fogg resulted in a negligent homicide plea where the defendant is eligible for parole after serving five years in prison. In State v. Casey Gokey, the defendant also pled guilty to negligent homicide and was sentenced to three and a half to seven
years in prison. Both cases involved physical acts similar to Mr. Labbe.

In New Hampshire, contrary to Asian American's understanding,
hate findings are not statutory elements of sentencing discretion in the event of a manslaughter conviction, and the hate element does not increase the sentencing discretion of a judge in the event of a murder conviction.

The group's assertions that the plea was "last minute" is likewise
unfounded. To the contrary, the plea agreement was the culmination of
a thoughtful, planned and deliberate process which I supported along with
the chief of the Newmarket Police Department and, most importantly, the
family of Mr. Phetakoune.

I would not dispute the group's conclusion that the New Hampshire
State Legislature should consider tightening the "hate" elements of crimes of violence.

Sincerely,

Philip T. McLaughlin
Attorney General
[/quote:042f3043b1]

Just FYI.

Alex

[achtungbaby]

We are asking all concerned Asian Pacific Americans to contact the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office to express their outrage at a plea bargain struck in the murder of a Laotian American man (see previously posted article), Thung Phetakoune. Phetakoune, an elderly man, was brutally killed by Richard Labbe in a clear and shocking case of hate crime. After attacking Phetakoune, Labbe stated to a police officer investigating the crime, “[Referring to the Vietnam War] What’s going on is that those Asians killed Americans and you won’t do anything about it so I will.” [details (http://yellowworld.org/?m=show&id=24)]