San Diego Criminal Defense Attorney
Q: A mother later told reporters that her son -- convicted of assaulting five San Diego women at random -- suffered from a personality disorder and "chemical imbalance." In the past, the City Heights ex-convict had assaulted his mother, brother, police and a few other people, many, but not all, women. Was it a chemical imbalance that prompted the attacks on five females, all strangers? A hatred of the opposite sex? A combination of both? Should it matter?
A: Increasingly, California juries are being asked to scrutinize the criminal behavior of defendants like this to decide whether their motive was bias toward a particular group. The crimes that are can bring extra punishment -- up to four more years in prison, depending on the crime. It is a trend that many criminal-justice officials applaud, saying the courts are becoming more sensitive to the acute trauma that comes with being attacked because of one's gender, race, religion or sexual orientation. Other criminal-justice experts find the trend troubling. They say such prosecutions amount to special treatment