El Monte : Man Guilty of Hate Crimes

A 21-year-old El Monte man was convicted Monday of hate crimes against his Asian-American neighbor.

William Taylor was found guilty by a Los Angeles Superior Court jury of making terrorist threats and damaging property. He will be sentenced Friday and could receive up to six years in state prison.

Taylor, who lived next door to Sang Lam, 37, was accused of posting a sign on the fence bordering the two houses in December, 1992. The sign made an ethnic slur and threatened all Chinese with death. A shotgun was strapped to the sign, which included swastikas and Nazi-style SS letters resembling lightening bolts.

On Feb. 7, 1993, Lam discovered a bullet hole in his car windshield. Police suspected that Taylor had fired at it.

Defense attorney William Graysen argued that Taylor was simply exercising freedom of speech with the sign and that no evidence linked Taylor to the bullet hole. But Deputy Dist. Atty. Ellen Aragon argued that the sign made Lam fear for his safety and that Taylor had access to weapons that could have damaged the car.