Prosecutors hope to test new law on hate crimes

PROVO — A man beaten with a baseball bat in Pleasant Grove while his assailant allegedly taunted him about his membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints might be a test case for hate-crime prosecution under Utah's revised law.

"It may be the first crime that we'll be able to charge under the new statute," said Deputy Utah County Attorney Donna Kelly.

An 18-year-old man was arrested and booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of aggravated assault for allegedly harassing a 21-year-old Orem man about the LDS Church, then attacking him with a bat Saturday.

A judge on Monday set his bail at $5,000 cash only.

While officers don't know exactly what was said, they do believe it is the first time they've had such an incident tied to religious affiliation in Pleasant Grove, said Police Capt. Cody Cullimore.

Cullimore did not have current information on the status of the victim.

During the 2006 legislative session, Utah legislators passed a bill to give prosecutors and courts the ability to punish hate crimes.

The new law requires that the public harm caused by a hate-crime-type offense be considered during the sentencing phase, including the "degree to which the offense is likely to incite community unrest or cause members of the community to reasonably fear for their physical safety," according to wording in the bill.

That public harm would be considered an aggravating factor and could potentially add time to an individual's sentence.

The law, however, does not name protected categories such as race, religion or sexual orientation.

The new law revises a 1992 hate-crimes law, which prosecutors have called unenforceable because it required them to prove that someone tried to deprive a victim of constitutional rights — in addition to an intent to intimidate or terrorize.

That law originally resulted in a third-degree felony charge, but is now a one-step misdemeanor enhancement — from a class C misdemeanor to a class B and a class B to a class A.

However, a class A misdemeanor will not become a felony.

Kelly said they will be reviewing police reports from the Pleasant Grove incident and deciding how to deal with the "hate-crime" enhancement — whether filing a separate misdemeanor charge with an enhancement or using a later sentencing factor for a potential aggravated assault charge.

The new law goes into effect May 1.

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Contributing: Deborah Bulkeley

E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com