Mr. and Mrs. Bernstein will not be attending any court proceedings unless it's absolutely necessary to be there. Wise choice, preserve your memories and save your sanity. It's a media circus.
Concerning a tip - the word is the principal at the school next door was reviewing video surveillance and noticed a light near the brush. He phoned the police and told them.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...203-story.html
Samuel Woodward, who is charged with the killing of his former high school classmate, pleaded not guilty Friday in connection with the fatal stabbing of 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein, but questions remain over whether the defendant should be charged with a hate crime.
Woodward, 20, entered his plea during an arraignment hearing in Orange County Superior Court. Judge Sheila Hanson set his bail at $5 million, higher than the typical $1 million in such cases, citing the severity of the crime and that Woodward changed his appearance by dyeing his hair from blonde to black while police were still investigating the case.If convicted of the murder charge, Woodward could face a maximum sentence of 26 years to life in state prison. He has also been charged with one felony count of murder with a sentencing enhancement of using a knife.
But he has not been charged with a hate crime.Spurred by the Bernstein case, state Sen. Janet Nguyen (R-Garden Grove) on Friday announced Senate Bill 971, which seeks to expand the scope of sentencing enhancements for murder convictions to include gender and sexual orientation.https://www.ocregister.com/2018/03/0...ts-not-motive/In an interview with The Times on Friday, Bernstein's mother said she welcomed Nguyen's proposed bill.
"Of course, we take comfort that should this bill pass, we will be one step closer to providing a safer California for LGBTQ members to live and thrive," Jeanne Pepper Bernstein said.
She said she broke down after hearing the news of the proposed legislation.
"I am crying because there is nothing that can bring my son home to me," she said. "There is nothing that can bring back any of the innocent beautiful souls that have been lost to us because of ignorance and hate
The 2016 photo of Orange County murder defendant Sam Woodward leaves little doubt about his allegiance to a neo-Nazi group tied to five killings across the nation.
But investigators say it?s less clear that it?s a statement about Woodward?s alleged motivation to kill.
Orange County investigators are aware of Woodward?s membership in the ?Atomwaffen Division,? which espouses violence as a way to achieve ethnic and racial dominance. Investigators have looked at how the online group is tied to other murders around the country.
But police have no evidence that white supremacy is the motive in the stabbing death of Ivy League student Blaze Bernstein, who was gay and Jewish, the Orange County Register has learned.
Authorities are standing by an earlier theory that 20-year-old Woodward stabbed former high school classmate Bernstein more than 20 times and buried him in a shallow grave at a Lake Forest park, at least in part to keep Bernstein from outing him sexually.
A sheriff?s affidavit obtained by the Register ? and subsequently sealed by the court ? revealed that Woodward told investigators that Bernstein kissed him on the lips in a parked car the night Bernstein was killed. Woodward said he pushed 19-year-old Bernstein away and wanted to call him an anti-gay slur.
The affidavit also says that Woodward told investigators he has Asperger?s Syndrome. Though the developmental disorder is not linked to violence, it can affect a person?s ability to socialize.
Woodward has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder. Prosecutors have left open the option of adding a hate crime to the charges, which could be added whether they deem Woodward?s tie to a Nazi group is part of the motive or not. A hate crime as a special circumstance could carry the penalty of life in prison without parole.
I wonder if he is going to use his autism as a defense.
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https://people.com/crime/blaze-berns...se-he-was-gay/ California prosecutors now believe a gay college student was stabbed to death while he was home on winter break this year because of his sexual orientation, PEOPLE confirms.
On Thursday the Orange County district attorney announced that a hate-crime sentencing enhancement had been added to the murder charge against 21-year-old Samuel Woodward, a high school classmate of Blaze Bernstein, 19.
Woodward is accused of fatally stabbing Bernstein more than 20 times in early January. The teen?s body was found in a local park days later, in a shallow grave.
?We will prove that Woodward killed Blaze because Blaze was gay,? Tony Rackauckas, the D.A., said at a news conference on Thursday, according to the Orange County Register.
In a news release obtained by PEOPLE, Rackauckas said the anti-gay allegation was based on Woodward?s digital activities ? evidence obtained from his ?cell phone, laptop, and social media? ? that ?revealed the dark side of [his] thoughts and intentions.?
On Thursday Rackauckas described that information as including many ?graphic and chilling? text messages and photos that ?spew[ed] hate toward almost every protected group,? the Register reports.
?They could be described as racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, misogynistic and anti-government,? he said.
Blaze Bernstein
Blaze BernsteinHelp Us Find Blaze Bernstein/Facebook
However, at this time prosecutors reportedly said there was not evidence of an anti-religious motivation in the death of Bernstein, who was Jewish.
His father, Gideon, described the latest accusation in wrenching terms, according to the Register: ?Today we suffer an added layer of pain for learning he was killed for who he was as a human being.?
Prosecutors have said that Bernstein was killed sometime after Woodward picked him up from his house in Lake Forest abut 11 p.m. on Jan. 2.
Bernstein had returned home from the University of Pennsylvania to be with his family while on break from school, where he was studying pre-med.
After Woodward picked him up, they went to the parking lot of a shopping center in Foothill Ranch before driving to Borrego Park back in Lake Forest, according to authorities. There, prosecutors suspect, Woodward stabbed Bernstein then buried his body in the brush surrounding the park.
Bernstein?s family reported him missing on Jan. 3 after he missed a dental appointment.
After an eight-day investigation ? which included a team of 25 search and rescue deputies, police dogs, drones and helicopters ? his lifeless body was found.
Bernstein and Woodward who attended the Orange County School of the Arts together, have given conflicting accounts of their relationship. Months before he was killed, Bernstein suggested to friends that there was a romantic connection between them, but Woodward said otherwise when questioned by police.
Samuel Woodward (left) in January
Samuel Woodward (left) in JanuaryKen Steinhardt/The Orange County Register via ZUMA
According to an affidavit from investigators, previously obtained by the Register before it was sealed, Woodward allegedly told detectives that Bernstein kissed him on the lips after they met up in January but that he pushed Bernstein away.
While recounting that part of his story, Woodward ?clenched his jaw and fists? as he recalled that ?he wanted to tell Bernstein to get off of him,? the affidavit alleges.
However, the affidavit also revealed that in June 2017, Bernstein texted two female friends about Woodward, the Register reported.
In one conversation, he texted that Woodward was about to ?hit on me? and ?he made me promise not to tell anyone ? but I have texted every one, uh oh,? according to the affidavit, as described by the paper.
The Register further reported that Woodward was allegedly a member of a fascist group called the Atomwaffen Division ?whose members see themselves as soldiers preparing for an impending race war,? according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Woodward, who was arrested on Jan. 12, has a preliminary court hearing scheduled for Aug. 22. His attorney could not be reached for comment on Friday.
He has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he faces a possible life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole.
Parents Ask Community to ?Make a Difference?
At the time of his death, Bernstein had just become the managing editor of Penn App?tit, a food magazine at the University of Pennsylvania, and was planning to study pre-med.
On his last night alive, his parents said he was as happy as they had ever seen him.
?He had a glow about him,? his mom, Jeanne Pepper Bernstein, told PEOPLE in January. ?He was in a good place. He was really happy. He was shining.?
In a statement this week, his parents said, in part: ?We live in a world where hate is real and the people that practice it can be hiding in your home in your child?s computer.
?We continue to look towards the future and what we can do to make a difference. ? If we all started doing something about hate and about intolerance ? we could change the world in a good way to prevent this type of heartache and injustice from happening again.?
Slight update - next hearing is November 6, 2020. Also, Jeanne filed a wrongful death suit against Woodward.
Got this info from that forum with all the rules.
One would think that with all of the technology available today, trials would still be possible during COVID.
You are talking to a woman who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom and chuckled at catastrophe.
...Collector of Chairs. Reader of Books. Hater of Nutmeg...
Through Zoom at the very least, but I would think that would only work for Trials by Judge. Not by Jury. There's no way to control what jurors are doing from home and the discussions wouldn't be as effective. If they had to do them in person, you'd literally have to sequester them for real and after being tested and quarantined. That doesn't even cover how you'd safely do the jury selection process where you're all crowded in a courtroom like sardines being questioned.
I can see how jury trials are a task to be able to do right now.
The forum with all of the rules says that the trial has been continued until July 2022. Sigh.
:) I think that I know that forum. You can't even say names, it's always initials. It's so aggravating. I commented on the documentary about the Brittney Wood case and they almost had a heart attack because I was talking about someone who was mentioned in the media.
That someone was Brittany's mom.
Pre-trial hearing, Jan 23.
5 freaking years....
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