All-White Jury Chosen in Pennsylvania Hate Crime Trial
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
AP
July 25: Derrick Donchak, 18, one of three white teens charged in the fatal beating of an illegal Mexican immigrant, leaves the district judge's office in Port Carbon, Pa., after his arraignment.
July 25: Derrick Donchak, 18, one of three white teens charged in the fatal beating of an illegal Mexican immigrant, leaves the district judge's office in Port Carbon, Pa., after his arraignment.
POTTSVILLE, Pa. — An all-white jury has been seated in the trial of two Pennsylvania teenagers in the fatal beating of an illegal immigrant from Mexico.
Prosecutors say the attack on 25-year-old Luis Ramirez was racially motivated. The jury was seated Wednesday and the trial opens Monday.
A defense attorney denies the beating was a hate crime.
Schuylkill County prosecutors have charged 17-year-old Brandon Piekarsky of Shenandoah with third-degree murder.
He and 19-year-old Derrick Donchak, also of Shenandoah, are charged with assault and other crimes. Another 17-year-old boy has entered a plea in federal court.
The beating was in July in Shenandoah, about 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
