Turlock hate crime case stalls again

A preliminary hearing for a father and son accused of a hate crime in an assault on a black woman outside a Turlock bar nearly three years ago was postponed for the seventh time Friday after one of the defense attorneys failed to show.

Eddie Taylor, 57, and Eddie Taylor II, 28, have pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges against them and denied the prosecution’s allegations of committing a hate crime. The Taylors are accused of attacking Latisha Mcany during a confrontation outside Staley’s Club shortly after 2 a.m. Dec. 23, 2013.

Defense attorney Tai Bogan, representing the father, was defending another client in a trial in San Joaquin County on Friday morning.

Deputy District Attorney Beth O’Hara DeJong was upset about the latest in a series of delays.

In court Friday, Mcany told the judge it takes a lot of courage to testify. But being told to turn around and go home several times takes an emotional toll. She said she also should have the right to a speedy trial.

“And I just wanted to let you know that I’m not going to give up on this fight,” Mcany told the judge. “They’re not going to wear me down, and I will be here.”

DeJong said the attorneys arranged last week to begin the preliminary hearing, so at least the alleged victim could give her testimony. DeJong said Bogan’s San Joaquin County trial, which is a misdemeanor case for a defendant not in custody, was not mentioned last week and was not a good reason to delay the case.

Defense attorney Percy Martinez, representing the son, was in the courtroom Friday morning ready to begin the hearing. Martinez is representing accused Modesto attorney Frank Carson in a lengthy preliminary hearing that has gone on for nearly a year in the Korey Kauffman murder case, which has created scheduling conflicts for Martinez and other attorneys involved.

Judge ready to begin

Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Ricardo Córdova said the Kauffman murder case has stalled “thousands” of other criminal cases, which is why the judge sent all his other cases on Friday to another courtroom. The Kauffman case is not in session on Fridays, and Martinez made arrangements to be available.

Córdova was frustrated that the hearing for the Taylors has been postponed yet again, and he said his frustration was not directed at any of the attorneys who were in court Friday morning and ready to begin the hearing.

The judge reluctantly scheduled all the attorneys return to his courtroom Oct. 14.

Bogan has said in court that this essentially was a bar fight with no permanent injury, and that Mcany started the confrontation when she took offense to the term “colored people.” The defense attorney has argued that the woman’s friends started the “brawl,” and that everyone involved was drunk.

The prosecutor has told the judge that the woman confronted a group of men about the offensive remark and walked away before she was punched in the face. DeJong has said the woman was knocked unconscious, and the Taylors used racial slurs.

The Taylors have been charged with battery causing serious bodily injury and assault likely to produce great bodily injury in connection with the assault on the woman. Those charges are accompanied by special allegations indicating the crimes were committed because of the woman’s race. The defendants also have been charged with misdemeanor battery on the man who intervened.

This story was originally published October 7, 2016 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Turlock hate crime case stalls again."