[Marxism] Racist Pa. jury gives killers free pass in murder of Mexican immigrant

[Fred Feldman]

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30535258/?ocid=twitter

Pa. jury's verdict called 'failure of justice' 
Representative of victim's family outraged over acquittal
The Associated Press
updated 4:00 p.m. ET, Sat., May 2, 2009
POTTSVILLE, Pa. - Prosecutors called the beating death of an illegal
immigrant from Mexico a hate crime, and they urged an all-white jury in
Pennsylvania coal country to punish two white teenagers for their roles in
the attack.

Instead, the jury found the teens innocent of all serious charges, a
decision that elicited cheers and claps from the defendants' families and
friends - and cries of outrage from the victim's.

Brandon Piekarsky, 17, was acquitted of third-degree murder and ethnic
intimidation, while Derrick Donchak, 19, was acquitted of aggravated assault
and ethnic intimidation. Both were convicted of simple assault late Friday
following a trial in which jurors were left to sort out the facts of an
epithet-filled brawl that pitted popular football players against a
25-year-old Hispanic man, Luis Ramirez, who appeared willing to fight.

A representative of Ramirez's family said the jurors got it wrong.

"There's been a complete failure of justice," said Gladys Limon, staff
attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, who
attended the trial and informed Ramirez's family of the verdict. "It's just
outrageous and very difficult to understand how any juror could have had
reasonable doubt."

On Saturday the group's interim president, Henry Solano, called on the
Justice Department to "bring justice to the Ramirez family and send a strong
message that violence targeting immigrants will not be tolerated."
Piekarsky's attorney declined comment on the possibility of federal charges
against the teens.

Prosecutors had cast Ramirez as the victim of a gang of drunken white teens
motivated by a dislike of their small coal town's burgeoning Hispanic
population. But the jury evidently sided with defense attorneys, who called
Ramirez the aggressor and characterized the brawl as a street fight that
ended tragically.

Jury foreman Eric Macklin said he sympathized with Ramirez's loved ones but
that the evidence pointed to an acquittal.

"I feel bad for Luis's friends and family. I know they feel they haven't
gotten justice," he said.

The simple assault convictions carry possible one- to two-year prison
sentences. Donchak was also convicted of corruption of minors and an alcohol
charge, both stemming from his purchase of beer and malt liquor that he
drank with his underage friends the night of the fight. Sentencing has not
been scheduled.

The case exposed ethnic tensions in Shenandoah, a blue-collar town of 5,000
that has lured Hispanic residents drawn by cheap housing and jobs in nearby
factories and farm fields. Ramirez moved to the town about seven years ago
from Iramuco, Mexico, working in a factory and picking strawberries and
cherries.

The 2000 U.S. Census showed that Schuylkill County's population was 96.6
percent white, with 1.1 percent of the county listed as Hispanic or Latino.

The fight began late July 12 when a half-dozen teens, all Shenandoah
residents who played football at Shenandoah Valley High School, were walking
home from a block party and came across Ramirez and his 15-year-old
girlfriend in a park.

Brian Scully, 18, asked the girl, "Isn't it a little late for you to be
out?" That enraged Ramirez, who began yelling in Spanish and dialing friends
on his cell phone. Scully admitted to shouting ethnic slurs. The verbal
sparring soon turned into a physical altercation as Ramirez and Piekarsky
traded blows, though prosecutors and defense attorneys disputed who threw
the first punch.

Donchak then entered the fray and wound up on top of Ramirez. Prosecutors
said he pummeled Ramirez, holding a small piece of metal in his fist to give
his punches more power. Defense attorneys said Donchak tried to break up the
fight between Piekarsky and Ramirez and denied he had a weapon.

The two sides eventually went their separate ways. But Scully kept yelling
at Ramirez, leading the immigrant to charge after the group.

Colin Walsh, 17, then hit Ramirez, knocking him out.

"Does Mr. Ramirez fit the description of an innocent soul who just happened
to get picked on by a group of kids?" defense attorney Fred Fanelli asked
jurors in closing arguments. "He's the only adult, and he makes some bad
choices."

Fanelli accused prosecutors of ignoring exculpatory evidence, including
statements by two of Ramirez's friends shortly after the fight that the
kicker wore white sneakers - the color Scully was wearing.

Fanelli also said prosecutors offered leniency to key witnesses - including
Scully and Walsh, who admitted to knocking Ramirez unconscious with a single
punch to the face - giving them a strong motive to lie.

Walsh pleaded guilty in federal court to violating Ramirez's civil rights
and could be out of prison in four years. On the witness stand, he
identified Piekarsky as the kicker. So did Scully, who told jurors he tried
to kick the immigrant but missed. Scully is charged in juvenile court with
aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation.


Fanelli derided the prosecution testimony as "bought and paid for."

Robert Franz, the prosecutor, denied any misconduct on the part of the
district attorney's office.

Displaying a candid photo of Ramirez, Franz told the jurors, "He was
assaulted and he was beaten, and he was killed for walking the streets of
Shenandoah. He didn't deserve that."