CINCINNATI (AP) — The sentences and convictions of 16
Amish men and women found guilty of hate crimes for cutting the hair and
beards of fellow Amish in eastern Ohio should be upheld, federal
prosecutors argued in a court filing.
In their response to the
defendants’ appeals, prosecutors on Friday wrote that the victims were
forcibly awakened in the middle of the night, restrained and disfigured
in a way intended to destroy an important symbol of their beliefs.
"The
victims were devastated and physically injured, and the assaults
injected terror and anxiety into a community that awaited the next
nighttime assault," prosecutors wrote in their filing with the 6th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals.
Authorities charged the defendants under
a hate crime statute, saying the 2011 attacks were meant to shame
fellow Amish that the attackers believed were straying from the faith.
The
group’s leader, Samuel Mullet Sr., was sentenced to 15 years in prison,
while the other members of the group got sentences ranging from one to
seven years.
Among other arguments, defendants in their appeals
have challenged the use of the federal hate crime statute under which
they were prosecuted. They have said they were wrongfully prosecuted
because their actions amounted to family disputes that resulted in no
serious physical injury. They also have said the judge should have
instructed jurors that religion had to be the primary motivating factor
and not just one of the factors to justify use of that statute.
The prosecution argued in its response the statute does not require that religion be the primary
motivating factor.
Prosecutors
also say the statute, which requires interstate commerce to be a factor
in a crime, was applied correctly in the case. At trial, prosecutors
argued that the scissors, shears and clippers used in the attacks had
traveled across state lines.
Prosecutors asked the appeals court to hear oral arguments.
Mullet’s attorney, Edward Bryan, said Saturday that he had not yet seen the prosecution response.
"We hope and pray that we prevail, and the community is holding strong," Bryan said.
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Associated Press writer Amanda Lee Myers in Cincinnati contributed to this report.
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