Hate crime victims in Long Beach Halloween beating address court February 1, 2007

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Emotional pleas from three white young women attacked by a mob of black teens on Halloween were made Wednesday to Long Beach Superior Court Judge Gibson Lee.The victims – who were attacked by a group of 20 to 40 youths who yelled racial slurs, pelted the young women with with fruit and pumpkins, then beat the victims to the ground using fists, feet, a skateboard and tree branches – implored the judge to give the harshest sentence possible for the nine teens convicted in the case.

The victims talked about the pain they endured the night of the beatings, as well as their struggles to recover from ongoing injuries.

In addition to the physical scars, they described psychological torment triggered by the attack and exacerbated by the contentious and lengthy trial.

Loren was the first of the three victims to address Judge Lee Wednesday.

“It is a terrible feeling to enter that courtroom and be surrounded by the defendants and then treated by the defense like I am a criminal,” Loren said. “I was completely honest on the witness stand, and my reward was being called a liar by the defense … it’s an insult to my character.”

The Press-Telegram has opted not to identify the victims,

the witnesses and those accused in the attack out of concern for their safety.

The 21-year-old was followed by her friends Laura and Michelle, both 19, who addressed the court for the very first time when giving their impact statements.

“Perhaps the only thing worse than suffering the 13 facial fractures was watching my best friend Laura lying on the ground, lifeless, while being beaten and kicked and being helpless to stop it,” Loren said, starting to cry.

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