Hate Crime Bill May Change Local Woman's Case

SAN DIEGO -- Musician Rhythm Turner said she was beaten outside of a Mission Beach bar where she was performing.

"I was hugging my girlfriend good bye outside of the venue after the show, and a guy approached me. He made some remarks, there were some words exchanged and then he resorted to violence and punched me in the face a couple times," said Turner.

Turner said the attack happened because she is a lesbian, and she is speaking out for those who can't.

"I want the statistics to show the truth of how many crimes in San Diego or anywhere in the world are hate crimes and what can we do to fix that," said Turner.

Turner said she believes one way to help is a new bill called the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, named for a gay college student murdered in 1998.

The new law adds gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability to the list of hate crimes.

Attorney Dan Gilleon said the bill would help prosecute crimes such as Turner's case.

"Primarily, what this is going to be about is assisting local authorities in California in the investigation and work-up of the case," said Gilleon.

The man who punched Turner pleaded guilty to battery and will be sentenced in September.

However, the district attorney's office did not feel they had enough evidence to prove it was a hate crime.

Gilleon said the new law might help similar cases.

"If either one of those local prosecutors don't have the manpower to pursue a case, there's going to be a second shot given to the federal government, to the Department of Justice, to file the same action," said Gilleon.

Turner said she just wants the same rights as everyone else.

"It would let the whole country know, just not on a state level but on a federal level, that we do deserve the same rights as everyone else and we deserve the same protection under the law as well," said Turner.