EDITORIAL: Change for Hispanic crime victims in Suffolk

Just one day after the hate crime verdict against Jeffrey Conroy, Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota offered a mixed message yesterday: Latinos are still targets here, but now these victims are reporting the crimes.

The reluctance of some immigrants, especially those who are here illegally, to go to police, plus the language barrier, were allegedly the key reasons why two leaders of a suspected robbery ring chose to pick on Latinos. The bodegas that were robbed were targeted at night.

So the grand jury accused two of them, Felicia Smith, 18, of Selden, and Sean Allen, 19, of Middle Island, of first-degree robbery, as a hate crime. The courts will have to decide if the hate-crime statute has been properly applied to cover these charges. Another four defendants were accused of robbery, but not as a hate crime.

Some of the robberies took place during jury selection in Conroy's trial. He set out, with six other teens, to beat up Latinos, and Conroy fatally stabbed Marcelo Lucero on Nov. 8, 2008. Spota said he decided not to reveal this indictment until after the Conroy trial, for fear it could cause a mistrial.

The Justice Department is probing whether Suffolk police previously failed to adequately investigate crimes against Latinos. In this case, Suffolk cops deserve credit for picking up the pattern. And it's heartening that victims felt comfortable enough to report crimes. Suffolk is moving forward. hN