 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Home | National and World News Section
October 13 - October 19, 2000
Controversial Law Increases Deportations
(in National News)
Indian Americans in Silicon Valley Raise Over $1 Million for Democrats
(in Bay Area News)
Asia's Unresolved Economic Issues
(in Business)
New Film Gemini's Double Pleasures
(in A&E)
Emil Amok
(in Opinion)
Crime & Court Roundup
Cops Release Video of Alleged Queens Killers
NEW YORK—Police released a security camera videotape they said shows two young men moments before they fatally attacked a Korean immigrant in the lobby of his Queens building.
The tape shows two people—both wearing bandannas on their heads—following the victim, Jong Lee, 47, into the lobby on Sept. 23. One of them is seen carrying a cobblestone used to smash Lee over the head, fracturing his skull, said Inspector Joseph Reznick.
Reznick said investigators believe Lee, a restaurant worker with four children, may have died in a botched robbery. But the inspector did not rule out reports that the unsolved murder was a possible hate crime by Hispanic youths fulfilling a gang initiation rite.
“If there was any definition of a senseless act, this one should be considered,” Reznick said.
Baumhammers Waives Preliminary Hearing, Lawyer Indicates Insanity
PITTSBURGH—Richard Baumhammers pleaded innocent to killing five people in what police say was a racially motivated shooting spree, and his lawyer suggested he will mount an insanity defense on his behalf.
Baumhammers waived his rights to present evidence or hear the prosecution’s case at an inquest at the Allegheny County coroner’s office.
Baumhammers, a white laywer, is accused of killing his neighbor, a Jewish woman, and opening fire on two men in an Indian market, killing one. Police say Baumhammers then killed two men—one Vietnamese American and one Chinese American—at a restaurant some miles away and a black man outside a karate school. The two-county shooting spree took place April 28.
His lawyer, William Difenderfer, said there was no point in having the prosecution repeat its case against Baumhammers, as few of the facts appear to be in dispute.
“It’s absolutely clear to me he has some serious mental problems,” Difenderfer said after the hearing before Deputy Coroner Timothy Uhrich. “It looks clearly to be a mental infirmity defense.”
Uhrich ordered Baumhammers, 35, of Mount Lebanon, to be held for trial, and a formal arraignment was scheduled for Nov. 2.
County prosecutors will have to declare by that time whether they intend to seek the death penalty against Baumhammers.
Asian American Groups Seek FBI Probe of Ocean Shores Stabbing
SEATTLE—Three Asian American groups are seeking an FBI investigation into the fatal stabbing of a white man who reportedly yelled slurs and threatened an Asian man and his twin brother in Ocean Shores.
Leaders of the Asian Bar Association of Washington, the Japanese American Citizens League and the Organization of Chinese Americans said that in the days before he was killed on July 4, Christopher A. Kinison and his friends committed hate crimes by taunting minorities.
“There is ample evidence to suggest that over the course of [the Fourth of July weekend] Kinison and others in his group committed hate crimes,” said Karen Yoshitomi of the JACL.
“Our community is frustrated over what is perceived as the failure of law enforcement,” said Yvonne Kinoshita Ward, president of the lawyers’ association.
Kinison, 20, of Olympia, was described as waving a Confederate flag prior to a fight in which he was stabbed 22 times at a gasoline station and convenience store in the coastal resort west of Aberdeen and Hoquiam.
White supremacists have taken up Kinison’s cause, saying his rights were violated.
Minh Duc Hong, 26, of Seattle, has been charged with first-degree manslaughter but claimed he acted in self-defense in the fight, during which someone knocked off the glasses of his twin brother, Hung Duc Hong.
Defense lawyers say Minh Duc Hong stole a knife from the convenience store only for protection, but Grays Harbor County prosecutors have maintained the stabbing was an overreaction.
Minh Duc Hong is free on $20,000 bail pending trial in December. His brother was not charged.
The Asian American group leaders said that on July 1, Kinison and some of his friends taunted a group of Filipino tourists, pounding on their car, after which the frightened visitors were escorted out of town by police.
They also said records show that on July 3, a black hotel employee claimed he was chased in Ocean Shores by a group that yelled slurs. Police said Kinison may have been part of that group. No arrests were made in either incident.
Home | National and World News Section
Controversial Law Increases Deportations
(in National News)
Indian Americans in Silicon Valley Raise Over $1 Million for Democrats
(in Bay Area News)
Asia's Unresolved Economic Issues
(in Business)
New Film Gemini's Double Pleasures
(in A&E)
Emil Amok
(in Opinion)
Crime & Court Roundup
| Controversial Law Increases Deportations (in National News) Indian Americans in Silicon Valley Raise Over $1 Million for Democrats Asia's Unresolved Economic Issues New Film Gemini's Double Pleasures Emil Amok |
Cops Release Video of Alleged Queens Killers
NEW YORK—Police released a security camera videotape they said shows two young men moments before they fatally attacked a Korean immigrant in the lobby of his Queens building.
The tape shows two people—both wearing bandannas on their heads—following the victim, Jong Lee, 47, into the lobby on Sept. 23. One of them is seen carrying a cobblestone used to smash Lee over the head, fracturing his skull, said Inspector Joseph Reznick.
Reznick said investigators believe Lee, a restaurant worker with four children, may have died in a botched robbery. But the inspector did not rule out reports that the unsolved murder was a possible hate crime by Hispanic youths fulfilling a gang initiation rite.
“If there was any definition of a senseless act, this one should be considered,” Reznick said.
Baumhammers Waives Preliminary Hearing, Lawyer Indicates Insanity
PITTSBURGH—Richard Baumhammers pleaded innocent to killing five people in what police say was a racially motivated shooting spree, and his lawyer suggested he will mount an insanity defense on his behalf.
Baumhammers waived his rights to present evidence or hear the prosecution’s case at an inquest at the Allegheny County coroner’s office.
Baumhammers, a white laywer, is accused of killing his neighbor, a Jewish woman, and opening fire on two men in an Indian market, killing one. Police say Baumhammers then killed two men—one Vietnamese American and one Chinese American—at a restaurant some miles away and a black man outside a karate school. The two-county shooting spree took place April 28.
His lawyer, William Difenderfer, said there was no point in having the prosecution repeat its case against Baumhammers, as few of the facts appear to be in dispute.
“It’s absolutely clear to me he has some serious mental problems,” Difenderfer said after the hearing before Deputy Coroner Timothy Uhrich. “It looks clearly to be a mental infirmity defense.”
Uhrich ordered Baumhammers, 35, of Mount Lebanon, to be held for trial, and a formal arraignment was scheduled for Nov. 2.
County prosecutors will have to declare by that time whether they intend to seek the death penalty against Baumhammers.
Asian American Groups Seek FBI Probe of Ocean Shores Stabbing
SEATTLE—Three Asian American groups are seeking an FBI investigation into the fatal stabbing of a white man who reportedly yelled slurs and threatened an Asian man and his twin brother in Ocean Shores.
Leaders of the Asian Bar Association of Washington, the Japanese American Citizens League and the Organization of Chinese Americans said that in the days before he was killed on July 4, Christopher A. Kinison and his friends committed hate crimes by taunting minorities.
“There is ample evidence to suggest that over the course of [the Fourth of July weekend] Kinison and others in his group committed hate crimes,” said Karen Yoshitomi of the JACL.
“Our community is frustrated over what is perceived as the failure of law enforcement,” said Yvonne Kinoshita Ward, president of the lawyers’ association.
Kinison, 20, of Olympia, was described as waving a Confederate flag prior to a fight in which he was stabbed 22 times at a gasoline station and convenience store in the coastal resort west of Aberdeen and Hoquiam.
White supremacists have taken up Kinison’s cause, saying his rights were violated.
Minh Duc Hong, 26, of Seattle, has been charged with first-degree manslaughter but claimed he acted in self-defense in the fight, during which someone knocked off the glasses of his twin brother, Hung Duc Hong.
Defense lawyers say Minh Duc Hong stole a knife from the convenience store only for protection, but Grays Harbor County prosecutors have maintained the stabbing was an overreaction.
Minh Duc Hong is free on $20,000 bail pending trial in December. His brother was not charged.
The Asian American group leaders said that on July 1, Kinison and some of his friends taunted a group of Filipino tourists, pounding on their car, after which the frightened visitors were escorted out of town by police.
They also said records show that on July 3, a black hotel employee claimed he was chased in Ocean Shores by a group that yelled slurs. Police said Kinison may have been part of that group. No arrests were made in either incident.
Feature | National | Bay Area | Business | Arts & Entertainment | Opinion