2 agree to plea deal in Halloween attack

Two black youths accused in the Long Beach hate-crime case in which three young white women were attacked on Halloween agreed to a plea deal Thursday under which they will serve three months in custody.

The settlement, which also requires that they pay restitution and complete a sensitivity course at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, brings an end to the most controversial and racially tinged legal case in Long Beach in recent memory.

But the physical and emotional effects of the attack linger on for the victims.

“They’re all still seeing doctors,” said Scott Bailey, 31, whose 19-year-old sister, Laura Schneider, was hit in the back of the head with a skateboard and kicked on the ground while unconscious.

“My sister continues to deal with sinus and peripheral vision problems,” he said. “Another woman has not fully recovered from facial surgery required because her face was bashed into a tree.”

The defendants, both 15-year-old Jordan High School students, pleaded guilty to one felony charge of assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury and a special allegation of causing great bodily injury.

A second special allegation of committing a hate crime, which was vehemently denied by the youths’ parents, was dropped Thursday during a pretrial hearing before Judge Irma J. Brown in Inglewood.

One teen will begin his sentence in June, after the school year ends. The other faces more legal proceedings because he was charged in late April in a separate case with one count of second-degree robbery and one count of grand theft.

The youth has denied the new charges, which accuse him and several other youths of stealing an expensive cellphone from a young woman as she stepped off a Long Beach municipal bus in April, authorities said.

Nine other defendants in the Halloween beatings -- eight girls and an 18-year-old man -- were convicted of felony assault, and eight were convicted of a hate-crime enhancement in a trial presided over by Long Beach Superior Court Judge Gibson Lee.

All nine are appealing their convictions. Charges were dropped against a 10th defendant.

A group composed of relatives and supporters of the victims recently launched a petition drive in hopes of prompting an election to force Lee from the bench. The group was angry that Lee had sentenced the nine youths to house arrest and probation despite a Probation Department recommendation that they serve time in custody.

But defense attorney R. Stephen Bolinger, who represented one of the two youths in court Thursday, said, “I think it’s a good disposition, given that there were so many people involved, it’s hard to know exactly who did what.”

Still to be determined, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Andrea Bouas, was how to cover the cost of the nine-week Simon Wiesenthal course, called Opportunities to Promote Tolerance and Increase Option for Non-Violence and Safety, an after-school intervention program for youths referred by high schools or the juvenile justice system.

In this case, said the center’s director, Liebe Geft, the program would be customized to address “a rather unusual circumstance involving a small group of students of different ages being sent here after a high-profile incident.”

If the defendants’ parents participate, Geft said, the cost could run about $23,000. “We are still in discussions with the Los Angeles County Probation Department, the attorneys and the families,” Geft said.

Thursday’s convictions brought a sense of relief to the ethnically diverse city of more than 475,000 people that has been struggling to cope with the tensions, complex emotions and negative publicity spurred by the brutal beatings and their aftermath: volatile court proceedings, gang-related vandalism of a witness’ car and blistering jibes on talk shows across the political spectrum.

The attack occurred along Linden Avenue in Bixby Knolls, an upscale and mostly white neighborhood. Bixby Knolls, where the median age is 36 and the average household income is $93,000 -- has for half a century built a reputation for going all out with decorations and candy on Halloween.

In one show of community solidarity during the trial, a unity rally was held at City Hall led by Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster.

In a city that prides itself on its diversity, “We’ve learned that issues of race continue to be sensitive,” said Anitra Dempsey, executive director of the city’s Citizen Complaint Commission, “and that there is still work to be done.”

louis.sahagun@latimes.com