The shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, which killed eight people, including four Korean women, could be the first big test bed for the new hate crime law in Georgia, the Associated Press reported on the 20th (local time).
Police said suspect Robert Allan Long, 21, claimed “sex addiction,” but Asian-Americans are skeptical about the explanation, as the victims are mostly Asian women, and the public demands the application of hate crimes, the AP said.
Six out of eight victims are Asian women.
According to the AP, like many states, the state hate crime laws in Georgia do not provide for independent hate crimes.
Allows aggravated punishment when criminals are convicted of other offenses.
The law stipulates that additional penalties for certain crimes may be allowed if the victim’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, and mental or physical disability are the motives of the crime.
Hate crime charges may be included in the complaint or added prior to trial.
If the jury finds guilty of the defendant’s basic crime, the prosecution can bring evidence to raise the sentence for hate crimes.
Attorneys can also present their arguments, and the jury will review them.
The AP explained that if the jury judges a hate crime, the sentence will be raised to at least two years in prison and fined up to $5,000 for felony crimes.
The Federal Department of Justice may also bring federal hate crime charges independent of state prosecutors.
In Georgia, the minimum sentence for murder is life imprisonment.
Parole may be possible after 30 years of service.
The prosecution can request the death penalty if the murder meets certain requirements.
Long is pursuing prosecution for eight murders and one aggravated assault charge.
Four people were killed and one seriously injured in the shooting of a Cherokee County massage shop near Atlanta, and four Koreans were killed at two spas in downtown Atlanta.
The decision to apply hate crimes is up to the Cherokee County and Atlanta Fulton County district attorneys, the AP said.
According to the AP, the Georgia Supreme Court neutralized the existing hate crime statute in 2004, saying it was too broad.
Georgia enacted a new hate crime law last summer.
(Yonhap News/Photo = Getty Image Korea)