Three Who Desecrated Synagogue Get 90 Days in Jail

A Municipal Court judge Thursday sentenced three men who desecrated a Del Cerro synagogue to 90 days in County Jail and three years’ probation.

Judge David J. Danielsen decided against state prison for the three men, who pleaded guilty to two felony hate crimes for their attack against Temple Emanu-El on Aug. 21.

Danielsen said it was one of the most difficult decisions he will ever make as a judge.

Jeffrey John Miles, 19; Marc Edward Lee, 19; and Daron Edward Stinton, 18, nervously sat with folded hands in their laps and fought back tears during an emotional sentencing hearing that included testimony from a Holocaust survivor.

They pleaded guilty last month to felony charges of vandalizing religious property and another hate crime called interfering with another’s civil rights. Investigators say there is no evidence linking the men to any racist or skinhead organization.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Luis Aragon brought the judge pictures of the temple showing swastikas and profanities spray-painted at a temple school.

“Let other would-be hatemongers know that San Diego County is intolerant to their intolerance,” Aragon said. He said the entire community suffers when there is a hate crime.

Speaking in front of a packed courtroom, Rabbi Martin Lawson, the leader of the Emanu-El congregation, asked the judge to place the three men in custody, even though he does not like to see anyone suffer.

“A hate crime is just that--a crime against a human being, and it deserves punishment,” Lawson said.

The rabbi was followed by a member of his congregation, Nancy Lee, who told Danielsen that she is a Holocaust survivor.

The desecration “brought back such bitter memories,” Lee said. “Nobody, no child, should go through what I had to go through.”

Hoping to avoid jail time for the three young men, defense attorneys discussed the effect of alcohol on their actions that night. Although the lawyers all said that alcohol is no excuse for anti-social behavior, being drunk was key to their clients’ “stupidity,” they said.

The attack was the culmination of a night of drinking and vandalizing two other structures. Aragon said the final attack on the temple showed a “logical progression of intent” and noted that they bragged about it later.

The judge said it was “curious” that the men picked a temple to desecrate and then “claim they were too drunk to understand what they were doing.”

“Their best defense: that they were young, drunk and stupid,” he said. “I will admit they were that--and more.”

Danielsen criticized the men for not taking responsibility for their actions, noting that none admitted to being the instigator.

Rejecting Aragon’s call for 120 days in jail, Danielsen said he had devised a sentence “far more onerous.”

In addition to the three years probation and the 90 days in jail, all three men were ordered to perform 200 hours of community service. Each man was fined $1,000, ordered to pay $458 in restitution to the temple and instructed to pay the county the cost of administering their probations--about $880.

Miles, Lee and Stinton were ordered to report Dec. 21 to begin their jail sentence.

“It is my intention that the defendants spend the holidays in custody,” the judge said.