Victim baffled by court ruling

[Rwede]

Yelling ‘I hate white people’ and punching one isn’t a hate crime, Canadian judge rules


By Peter Holley

July 7, 2016 


Tamara Crowchief may have yelled "I hate white people" as she carried out a violent assault on a white person, but that doesn't mean her attack was racially motivated, a Canadian judge has ruled.

The attack occurred outside a pub in Calgary, Canada, on Nov. 1, according to the Calgary Herald. Crowchief's victim, identified as Lydia White, lost a tooth in the assault, the paper reported.

Prosecutor Karuna Ramakrishnan had tried to put Crowchief behind bars for 12 to 15 months by arguing that the indigenous woman's "unprovoked" actions represented a hate crime, the paper reported. But Judge Harry Van Harten of the provincial court strongly disagreed.

“The offender said, ‘I hate white people’ and threw a punch,” Van Harten told those gathered in the court during his ruling.

“There is no evidence either way about what the offender meant or whether . . . she holds or promotes an ideology which would explain why this assault was aimed at this victim. I am not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that this offense was, even in part, motivated by racial bias.”

The Calgary Herald reported that the attack happened suddenly and without warning.

White was standing outside the pub talking to another person when Crowchief walked up and yelled “I hate white people” before punching White in the face, the paper reported. After the assault, Crowchief left the scene, but White followed her and called police.

When authorities arrived and arrested Crowchief, she told them “the white man was out to get her,” the paper reported.

At a recent court hearing, White said she's still baffled by the assault.

“I still get angry when I think about it,” she said. “I don’t understand why this woman did this. I never did anything to her. Never even spoke to her.”

By the time of her sentencing, Crowchief had already spent more than six months in jail, according to the Calgary Herald.

Van Harten agreed with Crowchief's defense attorney, Adriano Iovinelli, that she'd been behind bars long enough.

The judge gave Crowchief 12 months probation "and ordered her to get psychological and psychiatric counselling, as well as counselling for substance abuse," the Herald reported.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wor ... 1621ea71ee

[maryjane48]

the person did do jail time so there was infact a punishment .

[alfred2]

if a it was reversed you and others would call it a hate crime , why not hers.

[Queen K]

Rwede's post has brought back a long ago incident that I will relate when I have more time.
MJ, it really does happen and I was fortunate I wasn't pulverized into the ground in Fort Vermillion, AB.
But the story will be related later.

[Rwede]

the person did do jail time so there was infact a punishment .

Punishment would be a conviction.

[Queen K]

I often wonder what would have happened if it had been me.

Honestly, what I am about to relate is in no means meant to say that somehow my experience is the norm but I did have flashbacks for a long time.

We had arrived in Fort Vermillion late in the afternoon and our friends we were staying with were both still working.
She was waitressing in a local Chinese food restaurant which had a pub attached to the side of it.
I was walking to the restaurant, almost to the entrance when two native women came out a side door from the pub.
Sorry, but intoxicated, but not quite enough to, in my mind pose no threat.
One of them spotted me and quickly came up and started demanding her land back.
Fortunately I was well versed in treaty rights and how most of BC had not being treatied off appropriately (Thank you Dr. Dwayne Thomson, OUC).

And it began.

First of all I understood exactly the issue, I asked if she was from British Columbia.
She keep closing in on my personal space while her friend was keeping back and egging her on.
hmmm, okay, she was backing me up, now to the wall of the building. Nice.
I maintained kind eye contact and told her I understood what was going on, that land treaties were an issue in certain parts of Canada, BC in particular.
"I want my land back." Now this is a simple statement said to someone with no power to accommodate.
"I understand what you're saying, it wasn't right, how it was done." Non-specific but it is a, "I get it."
We maintained eye contact and talked for a bit, seemed she was thinking of pulverizing me to the ground.
I kept edging towards the front of the building.
By now more people had come out and were seeing what was going on.
She kept with me the whole time, I will tell you, it felt "touch and go."
By the time I got to the corner, and to the door she had said what she had to and suddenly changed her own eye expression and said, "I'm sorry."

Remember the pub and the restaurant were connected? I was kinda famous at this point as natives kept coming in to see me, the one who almost got pulverized. I wonder what they knew of what I said to her.

I've had flashbacks for years and can still feel it when my back hit the building and can still see her and the cars.

I wonder where she is now and if she remembers it like I do.

Now imagine if I had taken an uneducated, redneck stance. I assure you, it would have been a hate crime on her part.

[Smurf]

MJ would you accept this as satisfactory if it was a white person who walked up to a First nations person and attacked them for no apparent reason but being First nations?

[Veovis]

MJ would you accept this as satisfactory if it was a white person who walked up to a First nations person and attacked them for no apparent reason but being First nations?

Of course not, racism can only happen by white people in her mind, all others are free to rape and murder and insult as they please as long as they rape murder and insult the right colour of people. (this isn't an attack but simply an fact based on many many posts by the individual on this very site)

Personally this judge is off his rocker, the statement and assault are a cut and dried racially motivated attack.

[zzontar]

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/hate-crime

hate crime
Examples
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
noun
1.
a crime, usually violent, motivated by prejudice or intolerance toward an individual’s national origin, ethnicity, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.

It was a textbook hate crime. The judge should not be a judge.

[my5cents]

the person did do jail time so there was infact a punishment .

That isn't the point.

Here's the law on sentencing from the Criminal Code of Canada :

Fundamental principle
718.1 A sentence must be proportionate to the gravity of the offence and the degree of responsibility of the offender.

Other sentencing principles
718.2 A court that imposes a sentence shall also take into consideration the following principles:
(a) a sentence should be increased or reduced to account for any relevant aggravating or mitigating circumstances relating to the offence or the offender, and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing,
(i) evidence that the offence was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression, or on any other similar factor,

[Veovis]

the person did do jail time so there was infact a punishment .

So if someone yelled "I Hate Gays" and punched the guy and spent the night in jail that would be enough for you.....they did jail time right?

[the truth]

the person did do jail time so there was infact a punishment .

stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason mj, white, brown, black yellow etc etc

[Ken7]

if a it was reversed you and others would call it a hate crime , why not hers.

There were several factors which came to mind right away. I google searched the topic and came up with this article.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/what-is-a ... -1.1011612

I also feel that in this case, the sudden nature of the assault and the likelihood of intoxication made the judge look at it in the way that the sentence was passed. IF it was reversed, a white striking a Indigenous person, I think this judge would have done the same.

Now, there is case law on the subject right or wrong.

[Ken7]

Of course not, racism can only happen by white people in her mind, all others are free to rape and murder and insult as they please as long as they rape murder and insult the right colour of people. (this isn't an attack but simply an fact based on many many posts by the individual on this very site)

Personally this judge is off his rocker, the statement and assault are a cut and dried racially motivated attack.

I posted a article which I feel has some relevance to this case.

I do agree with your comment and we could all post the negatives, but why? I read every other day of non-whites making real poor choices but who is MJ? It would be just too easy!

I now say "FIDO" to many of her attempts to fire up the stove Forget it drive on!! No comment needed.

[my5cents]

I posted a article which I feel has some relevance to this case.

I do agree with your comment and we could all post the negatives, but why? I read every other day of non-whites making real poor choices but who is MJ? It would be just too easy!

I now say "FIDO" to many of her attempts to fire up the stove Forget it drive on!! No comment needed.

You also missed the point. The article you attached summarizes all the type of hate crimes. That's not on point.

The point is and was that the accused was given probation for an assault, where there was evidence that it was motivated by racial bias. Thus according to Sect 718 of the Criminal Code of Canada a sentence should be increased to account for any relevant aggravating circumstances.

The six months held in custody has absolutely nothing to do with the case. In Canada we have the "Bail Reform Act", which basically says that as long as you don't have a record for not showing up for court and you are not an ongoing danger to the public, you should be released pending trial. So obviously this person accused of Assault has had some problems with the courts in the past and that was responsible for the pre-trial custody.

This wasn't a "Hate Crime" as defined by the law. It was an assault that was "motivated by hate based on race" a factor that should have been taken into account upon sentencing for assault.

So it leaves one to wonder since the sentence should have been increase because of the racial bias, how low would it have been if the attack was motivated because the victim brushed into the accused ?