Razzle
03-10-2005, 03:18 AM
Michael Robinson, 27, is the first person to be convicted of a hate crime in Saratoga County.
BALLSTON SPA, March 9
By MARK MULHOLLAND Saratoga-North Country News Chief
Michael Robinson, 27, was sentenced Wednesday to six months in jail and five years probation for spray painting slurs on a bi-racial couple's car.
Robinson is behind bars. And in a twist, so are his victims.
The incident happened this past July in Ballston Spa. Police say Robinson also smashed windows of the couple's home.
"What he did was entirely wrong. It's frightening. But the thing that is most egregious is not that he wrote ‘Die N-word,’ but that he threw a milk bottle through a window, nearly injuring a teenaged girl,” Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy said.
Murphy says Robinson admitted to the crime – the first hate crime in Saratoga County.
"He said that he did it. We know that he did it and he served time for what he did,” Murphy said.
At the time, Robinson told police why he did it.
"One of his defenses was [the victims] were drug dealers, his words, but regardless of what he thought, there's nothing that justifies writing ‘KKK’ and ‘Die N-word’ on someone's car," Murphy said.
Police believe Robinson was right about the drugs. They'd been investigating the couple, Michelle Brown and Nelson Jones, for some time. Not long after Robinson's arrest, police charged the couple with selling drugs from their home.
“That's not an excuse. If he felt they were selling drugs, he should have gone to authorities and as you can see from what did happen to them, authorities were willing to listen and those cases are being handled separately,” Murphy said.
The hate crime victims, Brown and Jones, are facing felony drug sale charges.
While awaiting sentencing, Robinson was arrested on grand larceny charges and could face up to four years in prison.
BALLSTON SPA, March 9
By MARK MULHOLLAND Saratoga-North Country News Chief
Michael Robinson, 27, was sentenced Wednesday to six months in jail and five years probation for spray painting slurs on a bi-racial couple's car.
Robinson is behind bars. And in a twist, so are his victims.
The incident happened this past July in Ballston Spa. Police say Robinson also smashed windows of the couple's home.
"What he did was entirely wrong. It's frightening. But the thing that is most egregious is not that he wrote ‘Die N-word,’ but that he threw a milk bottle through a window, nearly injuring a teenaged girl,” Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy said.
Murphy says Robinson admitted to the crime – the first hate crime in Saratoga County.
"He said that he did it. We know that he did it and he served time for what he did,” Murphy said.
At the time, Robinson told police why he did it.
"One of his defenses was [the victims] were drug dealers, his words, but regardless of what he thought, there's nothing that justifies writing ‘KKK’ and ‘Die N-word’ on someone's car," Murphy said.
Police believe Robinson was right about the drugs. They'd been investigating the couple, Michelle Brown and Nelson Jones, for some time. Not long after Robinson's arrest, police charged the couple with selling drugs from their home.
“That's not an excuse. If he felt they were selling drugs, he should have gone to authorities and as you can see from what did happen to them, authorities were willing to listen and those cases are being handled separately,” Murphy said.
The hate crime victims, Brown and Jones, are facing felony drug sale charges.
While awaiting sentencing, Robinson was arrested on grand larceny charges and could face up to four years in prison.