8 convicted of hate attack in Long Beach

The defendants, who had gone to Bixby Knolls as a group to trick-or-treat, were arrested after having left the scene in two red cars. The defense attorneys attacked the way police conducted the identifications, telling Alford and Hyman they had caught the attackers before showing them the suspects and never testing the witnesses' memories with lineups that included non-suspects. The attorneys played 911 tapes that described the attackers as male.

But the prosecution had two pieces of physical evidence to bolster the identifications. Hyman's cellphone was found in the car of one of the girls, and one girl had bloodstains on her pants.

All manner of digressions and histrionics in the courtroom complicated the trial.

The judge allowed witnesses to testify anonymously, then reversed himself three times. During her testimony, Alford's car was rammed in front of her home; prosecutors said it was witness intimidation. In open court Bouas blamed defense attorneys for witness intimidation. A deputy public defender repeatedly accused Bouas of misconduct and asked for mistrials. Bouas accused the defendants of being gang members. The judge spoke so softly that attorneys often spoke over him.

As the trial plodded on, the 10 defendants passed notes, braided each other's hair and occasionally giggled at bits of testimony, such as when a probation officer listed the contents of one girl's pocket: 15 cents.

The defendants know one another through school, family and participation in track and field. A 17-year-old girl is a nationally recognized runner who represented the U.S. at a championship meet in Beijing in August and was being courted by USC. Another attends Cal State Long Beach on a track scholarship.

The families said they plan to appeal the convictions.

\o7joe.mozingo@latimes.com

Times staff writers Jessica Garrison, John Spano and Tami Abdollah contributed to this report.

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