Hate Crimes

[Nat]

JACKSON -- The case of a white Mississippi teen charged with running down a black man in what authorities have called a hate crime will be the subject of hearing Wednesday.
Deryl Dedmon, 19, is charged with capital murder in the death of James Craig Anderson, 49, who was run over on a Jackson street June 26, 2011, in an act that was captured on a surveillance video from a nearby hotel.
Dedmon’s lawyer, Cynthia Stewart, wouldn’t say Friday what the hearing is about, nor would District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith.
Previous hearings had been scheduled on whether to move the trial out of Hinds County, home to the majority-black capital city.
The FBI also has been investigating the case.
Authorities say seven white teens were partying in the early hours the day of Anderson’s death when Dedmon suggested they find a black man to mess with. Police said Anderson was beaten before Dedmon ran him down
One other teenager, John Aaron Rice, is charged in the case. He is charged with simple assault because a judge reduced the count from murder after a detective testified Rice left the scene in another car before Anderson died.
The case has been the subject of dozens of local and national news stories and received widespread attention after a video of Anderson’s death was obtained by news organizations.