Seattle Hate Crime Case Filed by King County Prosecutor
Tuesday afternoon, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (KCPAO) filed a hate crime case against a Seattle defendant who made racial slurs while threatening to kill a man who tried to calm him down inside a 7-Eleven when the card reader wasn’t working.
This is the first case referred to the KCPAO involving this defendant, who has a criminal history out of Texas and Alaska.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office argued that the defendant is a danger to the community and unlikely to return to court if released. We asked that he be held in jail on $10,000 bail. He was released by a judge on his personal recognizance.
Earlier this year, deputy prosecuting attorneys from our office met with officers from the Seattle Police Department to explain what’s needed to prove a hate crime case in court, and ways to identify a hate crime. We appreciate the work done by SPD on this case that allowed us to file a felony charge, and we intend to prove this case in court beyond a reasonable doubt.
How a hate crime goes from a police report to a criminal charge
In order to charge a case, a hate crime needs to be reported to police, then referred to an investigating detective. The next step is the completed investigation — which by law is handled separately from our office — needs to be referred to prosecutors who can charge it after an independent review of the evidence. That’s why there’s a difference between the number of cases reported and the number of cases charged by prosecutors. There are many steps before a case gets to us, and we are obligated to charge only the cases that we believe we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
Hate crimes are unique in that we have to prove the motive beyond a reasonable doubt at the time the case is charged. When we can prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt, we charge that hate crime. If we don’t have that evidence, we explain to the investigating detective what we’d need to be able to prove the case.
Our charging decisions are not statements against victims and their feelings — they’re based on what we’re able to prove in court. There have been cases where a victim or victim’s family believes the incident was a hate crime, but with the limited evidence we have from investigators we are unable to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt. In those cases, where there is sufficient evidence to charge another crime, we’ve charged the attacks as the otherwise appropriate crime (typically, assault or harassment).
Sentence ranges are set by state lawmakers, and in some cases the felony assault crimes that we’ve charged carry a longer sentence than would a hate crime conviction. A hate crime is designated as a Class C felony by state lawmakers, the lowest level of felony crimes — and that’s something our office would like to see changed.
Hate crime stats in King County
Of the 223 hate crimes filed between 2018 and today, there is clear data for 182 of them. Our office is working to enter data on the remaining cases. A case can have multiple types of hateful acts. That’s why there are 182 of 223 cases with clear, entered data:
· Hate crimes against someone’s race or ethnicity is the most common (2 so far in 2022 and 101 from 2018 through 2021. That’s based on the 182 number though 223 cases have been charged overall.)
· Hates crimes against someone’s sexual orientation is the second most common type of hate crime (1 cases charged so far this year, 39 cases from 2018–2021. Again, that’s based on the 182 number though more cases have been charged overall.)
· Hate crimes against someone’s gender or gender expression is the third most common category: 1 case so far in 2022, 20 cases since 2018. (Based on the 182 number of 223 overall charged hate crime cases.)
· Hates crimes against someone’s national origin happened in 13 cases from 2018–2021, including four cases in 2021. (Based on the 182 number of 223 overall charged hate crime cases.)
Of the anti-race/ethnicity hate crimes, anti-Black hate crimes are the most common. This current case is one of them.
· Of the charged hate crimes between 2019 and so far in 2022 with clear data, 62 of those were anti-Black hate crimes, including 10 in 2021. Mr. Haskins’ case is the first charged case with clear data in 2022.
· 15 of those cases were anti-Asian hate crimes, including 7 in 2021. (Based on the 182 cases, though 223 have been charged overall.)
