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http://amren.com/news/news04/03/30/cornellassault.html
Ithacan Receives Sentence for Concert Assault
Brian Kaviar, Cornell Daily Sun, Mar. 11
ITHACAThe Ithaca City Court sentenced Tiera E. Leckey, 21, one of the six Ithaca residents accused in the Nappy Roots and Ludacris concert assault incident last November, to a one-year conditional discharge and fines totaling $150, according to Tim Jecen, deputy chief clerk of the Ithaca City Court. Leckey previously pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment after the alleged assault erupted outside Barton Hall on Nov. 9.
Besides scar
and bruises, the victim --a female Cornell junior --was left with 13 stitches on her mouth and a ruptured eardrum. These injuries could take over a year and a half to heal, the victim said last semester. <
br><
br>The incident was originally inve
stigated as a hate crime on the basis of the victim's statements to police. The victim, who is Caucasian, told The Sun last November that over the course of their exchanges, the alleged assailants told her to Get your white hair out of my face and that they were gonna f**k up my pretty white face. At the time of the incident, the victim identified the alleged assailants as African-American.
After a full investigation into the events, the Cornell University Police Department, in a joint effort with the Ithaca Police Department, found that the incident was not racially-motivated. Police reports stated that no one in their group used words that were bias or racial.
Everyone should feel safe on campus ... where there is no violence of any sort,
said Robert L. Harris Jr., vice provost for diversity and faculty development. " think its turned out [that] things are okay.
ITHACAThe Ithaca City Court sentenced Tiera E. Leckey, 21, one
of t
he six
It
haca residents accused in the Nappy Roots and Ludacris concert assault incident last November, to a one-year conditional discharge and fines totaling $150, according to Tim Jecen, deputy chief clerk of the Ithaca City Court. Leckey previously pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment after the alleged assault erupted outside Barton Hall on Nov. 9.
Besides scars and bruises, the victim --a female Cornell junior --was left with 13 stitches on her mouth and a ruptured eardrum. These injuries could take over a year and a half to heal, the victim said last semester.
The incident was originally investigated as a hate crime on the basis of the victim's statements to police. The victim, who is Caucasian, told The Sun last November that over the course of their exchanges, the alleged as
sailants told her to Get your white hair out of my face and that they were gonna f**k up my pretty white face. At the time of the incident, the victim identified the alleged assailants a
s
African
-American.
After a full investigation into the events, the Cornell University Police Department, in a joint effort with the Ithaca Police Department, found that the incident was not racially-motivated. Police reports stated that no one in their group used words that were bias or racial.
Everyone should feel safe on campus ... where there is no violence of any sort, said Robert L. Harris Jr., vice provost for diversity and faculty development. " think its turned out [that] things are okay.
Cornell Officials and Ithaca Judges: FWhite Girls
Sara Townsley, Cornell Review, Mar. 13
Last November, a Cornell junior was viciously beaten in a campus parking lot by six assailants after a Ludacris concert. The victim alleges that she was confronted by the attackers at the
concert --five women and a man --two of whom punched her. Someone broke up the fight, so they asked her to go to the parking lot with them, but she refused. T
hey caught up with her any
way, and bru
tally beat and kicke
d her. She sustained a ruptured eardrum, required thirteen stitches to her lower lip, and suffered various other cuts and bruises. Her injuries will leave scars, and could take as long as a year and half to completely heal.
The ringleader, Tiera Leckey, a 21-year-old mother, said that the [victim] was very aggressive toward us and we had to fight because of it. This week, Leckey was sentenced by the Ithaca City Court to a one-year conditional discharge and a $150 fine. Case closed. Cornell did not classify the attack as a hate crime, and Vice Provost for Diversity and Faculty Development Robert Hunky-Dory Harris said, Everyone should feel safe on campus, where there is no violence of any sort. I think things turned out okay.
Why hasn't Ithaca erupted in race riots, v
andalism, and arson? Oh yes. The victim is white, and the perps are black. While mauling her, the victim alleges that the assailant
s shouted racial epithets at her, specificall
y, Get your whi
te hair out my face, and
that they were gonna f*ck up my pretty white face.
Shortly after the beating, Interim Vice President for Communications and Media Relations Linda Grace-Kobas said, this is a very serious incident. The University will do everything it can to support the investigation. Using composites from the victim's descriptions, a diligent Cornell University (CUPD) police officer tracked down four of the attackers --female Ithaca residents aged 20, 19 and two aged 14 --who were arrested within the week.
The 14-year-olds were issued juvenile appearance tickets and charged with assault in the third degree, a misdemeanor. The 19-year-old and a 20-year-old were arrested and charged with harassment in the second degree, a violation. They were issued tickets to appear in the Ithaca City Court,
and all four received persona non grata letters for campus property. Not battery, aggravated assault,
or another felony. Harassment. Misdemeanors. A ruptured eardrum and
thirteen stitches,
and they got polite little not
es barring them from campus. I feel safer already. Who needs a concealed carry permit when there's persona non grata letters?
On November 14, the Cornell Daily Sun reported that because the assault may have been racially motivated, a bias-related incident report has been filed. A bias-related incident report differs from a bias crime report, 'which would be a crime perpetrated solely on the basis of race or discrimination,' said Capt. Curtis S. Ostrander, deputy director of the CUPD. 'We don't think that was the case, but because of some statements that were said, a bias incident report was filed.'
Lynette Chappell-Williams, director of the Office of Workforce Diversity, Equity and Life Quality, explained the reporting process. 'A report is completed and faxed into our offi
ce. ... We share the information with a group of administrators from through
out the University. Part of the effort is to make sure the individual who experienced
the bias gets connected
to the proper resources in the Univ
ersity.'
On November 24, the Cornell Daily Sun reported that although initial reports suggested that the incident may have been racially-motivated, further investigation did not support the contention that a hate crime had been committed. Despite what the investigation concluded, the victim continues to believe that the assault was racially motivated. 'I still believe it was --because that was the whole basis of what they were saying to me. That upsets me, that the police determined it was inconclusive, since I definitely think it was [racially motivated].'
But after a full investigation into the events, the CUPD, in a joint effort with the Ithaca Police Department, found that the incident was not racially motivated. Police reports stated that no one in their group use
d words that were bias or racial. Well, t
hat settles it! Now we know what the word of a white victim is worth against the word of four black attacker
s: zilch. Apparently New Yo
rk in 2004 has decided that the 1950s Alab
ama model was pretty good after all.
Grace-Kobas explained that 'the law is very specific when it comes to hate crimes. There were a lot of interviews conducted --and based on statements by the victim, eye witnesses and those accused of the crime, it was determined that the incident did not meet that criteria.' Would that be the criterion that defines blacks as legally lacking capacity to commit hate crimes? Or the one defining whites as legally lacking capacity to be victims?
The Sun also reported that the sponsors of the concert, the Cornell Concert Commission, the African Latino Asian Native American Programming Board and the Minority Concert Fund Advisory Board, all refused to comment. No kidding. And that in the wake of the sentencing, Cornell administrators are
trying to assuage
student concerns of violence. Taking violence seriously would be a good start.
Predictably, Grace-Kobas said that the Un
iversity did not have any comme
nt on the sentencing this week. [We are] glad
that the Cornell police, with the help of the Ithaca police, held a successful investigation, she said. Indeed. Too bad successful investigations are meaningless when the prosecutor doesn't charge the crimes committed, when the judge blows off the evidence, and when spineless university administrators, straitjacketed by their own multiculturalist ideology, are too terrified to call this what it was: a BATTERY and a HATE CRIME.
I'm attempting to get an interview with Tompkins County DA George Dentes, because I would like to ask him why Leckey was charged with harassment in the second degree --a violation, not even a misdemeanor, like a speeding ticket --rather than gang assault in the first degree, a class B felony.
Leckey was charged with, and pled guilty to, the
follo
wing:
S 240.26 Harassment in the second degree.
A person is guilty of harassment in the second degree when, with intent to
harass, annoy or alarm another pers
on:
1. He or she strikes, shoves, kicks or o
therwise subjects such other person to physical contact, or attempts or threatens to do the same; or
2. He or she follows a person in or about a public place or places; or
3. He or she engages in a course of conduct or repeatedly commits acts which alarm or seriously annoy such other person and which serve no legitimate purpose.
But Leckey should have been charged with, and Dentes had the evidence, to prove the following:
S 120.07 Gang assault in the first degree.
A person is guilty of gang assault in the first degree when, with intent to cause serious physical injury to another person and when aided by two or more other persons actually present, he causes serious physical injury to such person or to a third person. Gang assault in the first degr
ee is a class
B felony.
Furthermore, the New York Hate Crime law provides:
S 485.10 Sentencing.
3. Notwiths
tanding any other provision of law, whe
n a person is convicted of a hate crime pursuant to this a
rticle and the specified offense is a class B felony: the maximum term of the indeterminate sentence must be at least six years.
Even worse, Leckey was not even convicted of harassment. The Ithaca judge gave her a conditional discharge, meaning that as long as she stays out of trouble for one year, the charges will be dismissed, and she will have no criminal record.
S 65.05 Sentence of conditional discharge.
Criteria. (a) . . . the court may impose a sentence of conditional discharge for an offense if the court, having regard to the nature and circumstances of the offense and to the history, character and condition of the defendant, is of the opinion that neither the public interest nor the ends of justice would be served by a sentence of imprisonment and that
probation supervision is no
t appropriate.
Ithaca courts and Cornell adminstrators have a lot to answer for. Stay t
uned.
http://amren.com/news/news04/03/30/cornellassault.html
Ithacan Receives Sentence for Concert Assault
Brian Kaviar, Cornell Daily Sun, Mar. 11
ITHACAThe Ithaca City Court sentenced Tiera E. Leckey, 21, one of the six Ithaca residents accused in the Nappy Roots and Ludacris concert assault incident last November, to a one-year conditional discharge and fines totaling $150, according to Tim Jecen, deputy chief clerk of the Ithaca City Court. Leckey previously pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment after the alleged assault erupted outside Barton Hall on Nov. 9.
Besides scar
and bruises, the victim --a female Cornell junior --was left with 13 stitches on her mouth and a ruptured eardrum. These injuries could take over a year and a half to heal, the victim said last semester. <
br><
br>The incident was originally inve
stigated as a hate crime on the basis of the victim's statements to police. The victim, who is Caucasian, told The Sun last November that over the course of their exchanges, the alleged assailants told her to Get your white hair out of my face and that they were gonna f**k up my pretty white face. At the time of the incident, the victim identified the alleged assailants as African-American.
After a full investigation into the events, the Cornell University Police Department, in a joint effort with the Ithaca Police Department, found that the incident was not racially-motivated. Police reports stated that no one in their group used words that were bias or racial.
Everyone should feel safe on campus ... where there is no violence of any sort,
said Robert L. Harris Jr., vice provost for diversity and faculty development. " think its turned out [that] things are okay.
ITHACAThe Ithaca City Court sentenced Tiera E. Leckey, 21, one
of t
he six
It
haca residents accused in the Nappy Roots and Ludacris concert assault incident last November, to a one-year conditional discharge and fines totaling $150, according to Tim Jecen, deputy chief clerk of the Ithaca City Court. Leckey previously pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment after the alleged assault erupted outside Barton Hall on Nov. 9.
Besides scars and bruises, the victim --a female Cornell junior --was left with 13 stitches on her mouth and a ruptured eardrum. These injuries could take over a year and a half to heal, the victim said last semester.
The incident was originally investigated as a hate crime on the basis of the victim's statements to police. The victim, who is Caucasian, told The Sun last November that over the course of their exchanges, the alleged as
sailants told her to Get your white hair out of my face and that they were gonna f**k up my pretty white face. At the time of the incident, the victim identified the alleged assailants a
s
African
-American.
After a full investigation into the events, the Cornell University Police Department, in a joint effort with the Ithaca Police Department, found that the incident was not racially-motivated. Police reports stated that no one in their group used words that were bias or racial.
Everyone should feel safe on campus ... where there is no violence of any sort, said Robert L. Harris Jr., vice provost for diversity and faculty development. " think its turned out [that] things are okay.
Cornell Officials and Ithaca Judges: FWhite Girls
Sara Townsley, Cornell Review, Mar. 13
Last November, a Cornell junior was viciously beaten in a campus parking lot by six assailants after a Ludacris concert. The victim alleges that she was confronted by the attackers at the
concert --five women and a man --two of whom punched her. Someone broke up the fight, so they asked her to go to the parking lot with them, but she refused. T
hey caught up with her any
way, and bru
tally beat and kicke
d her. She sustained a ruptured eardrum, required thirteen stitches to her lower lip, and suffered various other cuts and bruises. Her injuries will leave scars, and could take as long as a year and half to completely heal.
The ringleader, Tiera Leckey, a 21-year-old mother, said that the [victim] was very aggressive toward us and we had to fight because of it. This week, Leckey was sentenced by the Ithaca City Court to a one-year conditional discharge and a $150 fine. Case closed. Cornell did not classify the attack as a hate crime, and Vice Provost for Diversity and Faculty Development Robert Hunky-Dory Harris said, Everyone should feel safe on campus, where there is no violence of any sort. I think things turned out okay.
Why hasn't Ithaca erupted in race riots, v
andalism, and arson? Oh yes. The victim is white, and the perps are black. While mauling her, the victim alleges that the assailant
s shouted racial epithets at her, specificall
y, Get your whi
te hair out my face, and
that they were gonna f*ck up my pretty white face.
Shortly after the beating, Interim Vice President for Communications and Media Relations Linda Grace-Kobas said, this is a very serious incident. The University will do everything it can to support the investigation. Using composites from the victim's descriptions, a diligent Cornell University (CUPD) police officer tracked down four of the attackers --female Ithaca residents aged 20, 19 and two aged 14 --who were arrested within the week.
The 14-year-olds were issued juvenile appearance tickets and charged with assault in the third degree, a misdemeanor. The 19-year-old and a 20-year-old were arrested and charged with harassment in the second degree, a violation. They were issued tickets to appear in the Ithaca City Court,
and all four received persona non grata letters for campus property. Not battery, aggravated assault,
or another felony. Harassment. Misdemeanors. A ruptured eardrum and
thirteen stitches,
and they got polite little not
es barring them from campus. I feel safer already. Who needs a concealed carry permit when there's persona non grata letters?
On November 14, the Cornell Daily Sun reported that because the assault may have been racially motivated, a bias-related incident report has been filed. A bias-related incident report differs from a bias crime report, 'which would be a crime perpetrated solely on the basis of race or discrimination,' said Capt. Curtis S. Ostrander, deputy director of the CUPD. 'We don't think that was the case, but because of some statements that were said, a bias incident report was filed.'
Lynette Chappell-Williams, director of the Office of Workforce Diversity, Equity and Life Quality, explained the reporting process. 'A report is completed and faxed into our offi
ce. ... We share the information with a group of administrators from through
out the University. Part of the effort is to make sure the individual who experienced
the bias gets connected
to the proper resources in the Univ
ersity.'
On November 24, the Cornell Daily Sun reported that although initial reports suggested that the incident may have been racially-motivated, further investigation did not support the contention that a hate crime had been committed. Despite what the investigation concluded, the victim continues to believe that the assault was racially motivated. 'I still believe it was --because that was the whole basis of what they were saying to me. That upsets me, that the police determined it was inconclusive, since I definitely think it was [racially motivated].'
But after a full investigation into the events, the CUPD, in a joint effort with the Ithaca Police Department, found that the incident was not racially motivated. Police reports stated that no one in their group use
d words that were bias or racial. Well, t
hat settles it! Now we know what the word of a white victim is worth against the word of four black attacker
s: zilch. Apparently New Yo
rk in 2004 has decided that the 1950s Alab
ama model was pretty good after all.
Grace-Kobas explained that 'the law is very specific when it comes to hate crimes. There were a lot of interviews conducted --and based on statements by the victim, eye witnesses and those accused of the crime, it was determined that the incident did not meet that criteria.' Would that be the criterion that defines blacks as legally lacking capacity to commit hate crimes? Or the one defining whites as legally lacking capacity to be victims?
The Sun also reported that the sponsors of the concert, the Cornell Concert Commission, the African Latino Asian Native American Programming Board and the Minority Concert Fund Advisory Board, all refused to comment. No kidding. And that in the wake of the sentencing, Cornell administrators are
trying to assuage
student concerns of violence. Taking violence seriously would be a good start.
Predictably, Grace-Kobas said that the Un
iversity did not have any comme
nt on the sentencing this week. [We are] glad
that the Cornell police, with the help of the Ithaca police, held a successful investigation, she said. Indeed. Too bad successful investigations are meaningless when the prosecutor doesn't charge the crimes committed, when the judge blows off the evidence, and when spineless university administrators, straitjacketed by their own multiculturalist ideology, are too terrified to call this what it was: a BATTERY and a HATE CRIME.
I'm attempting to get an interview with Tompkins County DA George Dentes, because I would like to ask him why Leckey was charged with harassment in the second degree --a violation, not even a misdemeanor, like a speeding ticket --rather than gang assault in the first degree, a class B felony.
Leckey was charged with, and pled guilty to, the
follo
wing:
S 240.26 Harassment in the second degree.
A person is guilty of harassment in the second degree when, with intent to
harass, annoy or alarm another pers
on:
1. He or she strikes, shoves, kicks or o
therwise subjects such other person to physical contact, or attempts or threatens to do the same; or
2. He or she follows a person in or about a public place or places; or
3. He or she engages in a course of conduct or repeatedly commits acts which alarm or seriously annoy such other person and which serve no legitimate purpose.
But Leckey should have been charged with, and Dentes had the evidence, to prove the following:
S 120.07 Gang assault in the first degree.
A person is guilty of gang assault in the first degree when, with intent to cause serious physical injury to another person and when aided by two or more other persons actually present, he causes serious physical injury to such person or to a third person. Gang assault in the first degr
ee is a class
B felony.
Furthermore, the New York Hate Crime law provides:
S 485.10 Sentencing.
3. Notwiths
tanding any other provision of law, whe
n a person is convicted of a hate crime pursuant to this a
rticle and the specified offense is a class B felony: the maximum term of the indeterminate sentence must be at least six years.
Even worse, Leckey was not even convicted of harassment. The Ithaca judge gave her a conditional discharge, meaning that as long as she stays out of trouble for one year, the charges will be dismissed, and she will have no criminal record.
S 65.05 Sentence of conditional discharge.
Criteria. (a) . . . the court may impose a sentence of conditional discharge for an offense if the court, having regard to the nature and circumstances of the offense and to the history, character and condition of the defendant, is of the opinion that neither the public interest nor the ends of justice would be served by a sentence of imprisonment and that
probation supervision is no
t appropriate.
Ithaca courts and Cornell adminstrators have a lot to answer for. Stay t
uned.