O.C.’s 1st Federal Hate Crime Case Nears End

An alleged skinhead has admitted in court documents to beating a man four years ago in Orange because of his Asian ancestry, bringing the first federal prosecution of a hate crime assault in Orange County close to an end, authorities said Thursday.

Kevin Timothy Dale, 22, admitted jumping onto the dark-skinned man from the roof of a nearby car as 10 to 15 others kicked, punched and beat the victim with metal poles, according to a plea agreement filed in federal court Tuesday.

Mark Sanjay David, now 29, was beaten unconscious outside the Viva Las Vegas club after a punk rock concert by the band Fear in August 1995. He suffered a fractured skull, Asst. U.S. Attorney Michael Gennaco said.

Dale, who prosecutors say is a white supremacist, is scheduled to enter his guilty plea at an arraignment on Jan. 3. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

“It was an extensive investigation, and it took a lot of work to finally get enough evidence together,” Gennaco said. Prosecuting hate crimes is difficult, he said, “because you have to get to the underlying motivation.”

Gennaco said he is unsure if the others involved in the assault also will face federal charges.

Dale’s case marks the first time that the U.S. attorney’s office has used federal laws targeting racially motivated crimes to prosecute an assault in Orange County, Gennaco said. Federal authorities are reviewing at least a dozen other hate-crime attacks in the county, he said.

In February 1998, the U.S. attorney’s office successfully prosecuted a university student accused of violating the civil rights of Asians at UC Irvine by sending them anonymous death threats by e-mail. But that case, Gennaco said, did not involve an assault.