Please E-mail suggested additions, comments and/or corrections to Kent@MoreLaw.Com.
Date: 03-09-2022
Case Style:
Case Number: 2:21-cr-00188-SVW
Judge: Stephen V. Wilson
Court: United States District Court for the Central District of California (Los Angeles County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States Attorney’s Office
Defendant's Attorney: Kenneth A. Reed for Stepanya
Description: Los Angeles, California criminal defense lawyers represented defendants charged with conspiracy and hate crime charges for attacking five victims inside a restaurant while shouting ethnic slurs, hurling chairs at the victims and threatening to kill them.
William Stepanyan, 23, of Glendale, and Harutyun Harry Chalikyan, 24, of Tujung, were charged with committing hate crimes in violation of 18 U.S.C. 249(a)(2), which provides: (a) In General.—
(1) Offenses involving actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin.—Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerous weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin of any person—
(A) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both; and
(B) shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined in accordance with this title, or both, if—
(i) death results from the offense; or
(ii) the offense includes kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.
(2) Offenses involving actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.—
(A) In general.—Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, in any circumstance described in subparagraph (B) or paragraph (3), willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerous weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of any person—
(i) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both; and
(ii) shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined in accordance with this title, or both, if—
(I) death results from the offense; or
(II) the offense includes kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.
(B) Circumstances described.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), the circumstances described in this subparagraph are that—
(i) the conduct described in subparagraph (A) occurs during the course of, or as the result of, the travel of the defendant or the victim—
(I) across a State line or national border; or
(II) using a channel, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce;
(ii) the defendant uses a channel, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce in connection with the conduct described in subparagraph (A);
(iii) in connection with the conduct described in subparagraph (A), the defendant employs a firearm, dangerous weapon, explosive or incendiary device, or other weapon that has traveled in interstate or foreign commerce; or
(iv) the conduct described in subparagraph (A)—
(I) interferes with commercial or other economic activity in which the victim is engaged at the time of the conduct; or
(II) otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce.
According to the facts admitted in the plea agreements, the defendants, who identify as members of the Armenian-American community, attacked five victims inside a family-owned Turkish restaurant on Nov. 4, 2020, because of their anger about Turkey’s support of Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia. Earlier that day, Stepanyan sent a text message saying that he planned to go “hunting for [T]urks.” That evening, the defendants drove to the restaurant with a group of approximately nine individuals who planned to demonstrate outside the establishment because they considered it symbolic of Turkey. Upon arriving at the restaurant, Stepanyan and Chalikyan stormed inside, threw hard wooden chairs at the victims, smashed glassware, destroyed a plexiglass barrier and overturned tables. One of the defendants asked the victims, “Are you Turkish?” and shouted, “We came to kill you! We will kill you!” The attack caused at least $20,000 of damage to the restaurant and physically injured multiple victims.
“The defendants violently attacked people inside a family-owned restaurant because of their perceived nationality,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Such violence based on national origin has no place in our society. The Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute bias-motivated crimes in an effort to secure justice for the victims and the communities they are meant to target and intimidate.”
“These defendants were driven by hate, and their actions were deplorable,” said U.S. Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison for the Central District of California. “The physical injuries and emotional trauma to the victims cannot be understated. We hope that the sentences handed down today will help vindicate those harms.”
“The victims in this case were brutally attacked by the defendants who trampled their civil rights and likely caused lasting psychological pain for nothing more than the perception of where they were born,” said Assistant Director in Charge Kristi Johnson of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office. “The FBI is committed to investigating civil rights violations and holding accountable individuals who commit violent acts motivated by hate.”
Trial Attorney Michael J. Songer of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Greer Dotson of the Central District of California prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The FBI conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Beverly Hills Police Department.
Outcome: Stepanyan was sentenced to five years in prison and Harutyun Harry Chalikyan to 15 months in prison. Each defendant was also sentenced to three years of supervised release. The court also ordered the defendants to jointly pay $21,200 in restitution for damage to the Turkish restaurant.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: