Defending Against Philadelphia Hate Crime Allegations

Defending Against Philadelphia Hate Crime Allegations

Hate crimes are on the rise across the country, and Philadelphia is no exception. As a lawyer practicing in Philadelphia, you may find yourself defending a client accused of a hate crime. These allegations can be complex and difficult to fight, but an experienced defense attorney can help protect your client’s rights and future. This article provides an overview of Pennsylvania’s hate crime laws, potential defenses, and strategic considerations when facing Philadelphia hate crime charges.

Pennsylvania’s Hate Crime Laws

Pennsylvania’s ethnic intimidation statutes establish hate crimes as felony or misdemeanor offenses against a person or property motivated by prejudice or hostility towards race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity. The crimes elevated to hate crime status can include assault, harassment, criminal mischief, arson, criminal trespass, and more.

Prosecutors don’t need to prove hate or bias was the sole motivation for the crime under 18 Pa.C.S. § 2710. The prejudice or hostility only needs to be a “substantial motivating factor” for conviction. This low burden of proof makes successfully defending hate crime allegations difficult.

Potential Defenses

Several defenses may apply when facing hate crime charges, including:

Lack of Evidence on Bias Motivation

The prosecution carries the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that your client committed a crime based partly or wholly on prejudice or hostility towards the victim’s protected class. As the defense attorney, scrutinizing the quality of this evidence and exposing any reasonable doubt is key.

For example, ambiguous remarks or past associations by your client don’t necessarily prove their motivations during the alleged crime. Witness credibility issues, contradictions, and lack of corroborating evidence can also create doubt around alleged hate-based intent.

Misidentification

Eyewitness misidentification is a common contributor to wrongful convictions. This defense may apply if your client was legitimately misidentified due to issues like cross-racial identification, weapon focus, suggestive identification procedures, and more. Retaining an eyewitness identification expert can help reveal doubts around ID evidence.

False Accusations & Alibis

Hate crime hoaxes do occur, making false allegations a potential avenue for defense. Establishing your client’s innocence through alibis can also defeat allegations by placing them away from the scene of the crime when it occurred. A skilled defense investigation into the credibility of the allegations and accuser can uncover falsehoods as well.

Self-Defense

If evidence shows your client acted in self-defense against violence initiated by the alleged victim, hate crime charges may not apply. The reaction still can’t be excessive given the nature of threat faced. But self-protection may help negate alleged bias motivations.

Mental State Defenses

Your client’s mental state during the alleged crime may provide grounds for defense. For example, evidence your client was in a PTSD flashback, psychotic state, blackout intoxication or other diminished mental capacity could undermine accusations of purposeful hate-motivated criminality.

Strategic Considerations

Defending hate crime accusations in Philadelphia requires strategic consideration of the specific charges, evidence, applicable defenses, and collateral consequences facing your client. Key factors to assess include:

• Alleged Victim Sympathy: Hate crime allegations often involve victims likely to garner public sympathy. Juries may enter with biases favoring victim credibility. Defense strategies accounting for this reality are essential.
• Sentencing Enhancements: With hate crime convictions often doubling or tripling sentencing minimums and maximums, the penal stakes will be high. Developing defenses against standard and hate penalty charges is prudent.
• Reputational Damages: Even if acquitted, merely facing hate crime accusations can permanently damage personal, professional and social reputations. Preemptively addressing this possibility is wise.
• Philadelphia Politics: Philadelphia’s progressive-leaning population and politicians exerting political pressure around high-profile hate allegations is a real possibility. Allowing outside factors to impact the defense is never acceptable.

An Experienced Philadelphia Defense Lawyer Can Help

Facing hate crime charges in Philadelphia can be daunting. But an experienced criminal defense attorney intimately familiar with Pennsylvania and Philadelphia hate crime laws can help protect your rights. From reviewing evidence to developing defenses to negotiating pleas to trying cases, skilled legal advocacy makes a difference. Each case has unique complexities. But defending accusations of racially/religiously/sexuality/disability-based criminality warrants representation equal to the devastating stakes these allegations carry. With balance, wisdom and commitment to the defense, even seemingly long odds can shift in your favor.