Thread: 'HATE CRIME' Charge 'Inappropriate' - Effort to whitewash Detroit beating suspect

By Detroit Free Press (MI)
April 18, 2014

Effort to whitewash Detroit beating suspect begins


The attorney representing the Detroit teen accused of being an instigator in the mob attack on a Macomb County man earlier this month said the hate crime charge against his client is inappropriate, calling it a "spur of the moment" situation.

"A hate crime to me is burning a cross on somebody's lawn because of their race or color," lynching someone or painting swastikas on a synagogue, said Attorney Solomon Radner of Southfield following a brief court hearing today.

Radner noted that the teen is sorry about the situation. The teen is charged in the April 2 beating of Steve Utash, 54, of Clinton Township on Detroit's east side. Utash was attacked after he stopped to check on a 10-year-old boy struck by his vehicle as he drove on Morang.

The 16-year-old boy, who turns 17 in May, appeared in the Lincoln Hall of Justice in Detroit before Judge Jerome Cavanagh, who set a trial date of June 23-25 and kept the teen's bail at $400,000.

The teen, who is charged as a juvenile, faces assault with intent to do great bodily harm and ethnic intimidation charges. He is the youngest of the five defendants charged to date and the only one to be charged with a hate crime.

Solomon argued unsuccessfully for a lesser bail, calling the attack that left Utash with head injuries "a spur of the moment reaction to something that took place in his neighborhood." He said the teen would not be able to afford $400,000.

However, Assistant Prosecutor Hervey Jenkins noted that even though Utash appears to be improving, his recovery remains in question.

"This case could very easily have been charged with inciting a riot or insurrection with the events that occurred," Jenkins said.

At a court hearing Saturday, prosecutors said the teen -- whom the Free Press is not naming because he is a juvenile -- was one of the first to throw punches as the mob attacked Utash.

Utash was kept in a medically induced coma until last week, but family members have told the Free Press that despite severe head injuries Utash is now improving slightly every day. More than $179,300 had been raised as of this afternoon through the www.gofundme.com page set up for Utash's medical bills.

Four adults -- Bruce Wimbush Jr., Wonzey Saffold, James Davis and Latrez Cummings -- are charged with assault with intent to murder and assault with intent to do great bodily harm in the attack and are scheduled for their preliminary examinations on Monday.

http://www.gopusa.com/news/2014/04/1.../?subscriber=1

Man beaten after accidentally hitting boy with pickup is released from hospital

Published May 17, 2014
Associated Press

DETROIT – A man severely beaten in Detroit after accidentally striking a boy with his pickup truck is home after spending six weeks in hospitals.

Steve Utash was last at DMC Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan. Spokeswoman Cheryl Angelelli says Utash was discharged Thursday.

The 54-year-old tree trimmer from Macomb County was attacked by a mob after he got out of his pickup truck to help a 10-year-old boy on April 2.

Four men are charged with attempted murder. A 16-year-old boy is charged with assault and ethnic intimidation. Utash is white, his attackers are black.

Joe Utash tells WXYZ-TV that his father is grateful for the public's support, especially nearly $200,000 in pledges for his medical bills

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