Attackers Plead Guilty to Federal Hate Crimes Charge
On Thursday, April 18th, 2013 two young men already sentenced in an attack on an Atlanta gay man pleaded guilty in federal court to beating the victim because of his sexual orientation.
The February 2012 assault was posted on the internet.
The case is the first in Georgia to charge a violation of the federal hate crimes law.
Christopher Cain and Dorian Moragne are already serving time for beating then 20-year old Brandon White.
As one filmed the attack with a cell phone, three others including Cain, Moragne and another can be heard laughing and yelling, “They say no faggots in jack city, no faggots’ man, no faggots in jack city.”
“Jack City,” according to authorities, refers to the New Jack City boys, a gang tag to claim their neighborhood turf.
Shouting those words as it was videotaped; Brandon White was punched, stomped and hit with a tire outside a convenience store in Atlanta’s Pittsburgh neighborhood.
Because of the video, WABE legal analyst Page Pate says it would have been difficult to argue against the federal hate crimes charge.
“And if that type of evidence gets to a judge or jury, it’s highly prejudicial and that could drive the sentence to almost double what they would be looking at now as a result of this guilty plea.”
Georgia does not have a state hate crimes law.
That’s why the federal charges encourage Atlanta gay and lesbian activist Greg Smith.
“Why Georgia doesn’t have it in place is a whole another series of questions, but we advocated for a law to protect people and they worked legislation so that pretty much that the government has to step in when the local government will not.”
Last summer Fulton Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford handed down the sentences for Darael Williams, Christopher Cain, and Dorian Moragne.
“I’m going to sentence each of you, under each one of these counts and they’ll run concurrent to ten years to serve five with the balance being probated,” Judge Bedford told the three.
Senior U.S district Judge J. Owen Forrester will hand down the federal sentences.
Federal prosecutors have recommended the sentences run concurrent with the state’s, but that’s not a guarantee says Page Pate.
“The government has agreed to make a recommendation, but the court does not have to accept that recommendation and it’ll be interesting to see what the court will do in this case.”
A third teen, Javaris Bradford, has yet to be arrested according to a spokesperson for the Fulton County District Attorney’s office.
Bradford is believed to be the one who videotaped the attack and he’s been indicted by a Fulton County grand jury.
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