Two more of the nine Charlottesville high school students allegedly involved in assaults on University students entered guilty pleas in Charlottesville Juvenile Court yesterday.
According to Charlottesville Commonwealth's Attorney Elizabeth Killeen, one of the minors pled guilty to attempted malicious wounding by mob in a Jan. 12 incident, malicious wounding by mob and robbery in a Jan. 18 incident and to malicious wounding by mob in a Jan. 25 incident.
Killeen said the other minor pled guilty to the same three charges as well as a misdemeanor of accessory after the fact of a robbery in a Sept. 15, 2001 incident.
Accessory after the fact means an individual aids or assists another person's attempt to avoid prosecution in the aftermath of an event.
Specific details concerning the individuals are not available because the defendants are minors.
The individuals appearing before the court yesterday were two of a group of nine Charlottesville high school students allegedly involved in attacks on University students. The incidents occurred between last September and this past January.
Before the assault trials, groups such as the European-American Unity and Rights Organization called for the defendants to be prosecuted under Virginia's hate crime laws.
However, University Spokeswoman Louise Dudley said the hate crime sentiment was not widespread.
"I think it's probably not the right thing, as it usually is, to say that there's one community sentiment," Dudley said.
The Charlottesville Commonwealth's Attorney's Office has said that it was unable to find sufficient proof beyond a reasonable doubt to prosecute the assailants for hate crimes.
However, the malicious wounding and robbery charges, to which seven of the defendants already have pled guilty, are offenses that carry higher punishments than even Virginia's most serious hate crime offenses.
According to Killeen, there are no state sentencing guidelines related to these charges for judges to follow at the sentencing hearing.
"They can get anything from probation to commitment to the department of juvenile justice, which is long-term," Killeen said.
Commitment to the department of juvenile justice means incarceration in a permanent detention center. However, Killeen said it is not necessarily comparable to adult prison.
"It is incarceration as they are separate from the community," she said. However, the inmates "go to school and so on."
Sentencing for the six involved minors that entered guilty pleas last week will occur in May.
Sentencing for both individuals that entered pleas yesterday will be June 4.
Group forums held by University and community groups, and involving some of the victims of the crimes, have continued through the months of the trial.
"I think they [the assaults] have heightened communication between the University and the community," Dudley said. "This has brought heightened interest that we keep channels of communication open and that we think of new ways to encourage local residents, including teenagers, to come to the University to see what we have to offer"
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