San Dimas hate crime perp gets 22 years for attack on Asian man

From Sandi Gibbons at the Los Angeles County DAs office:

LOS ANGELES - A Bakersfield man convicted of stabbing and wounding an Asian man last year during what a jury determined was a hate crime attack was sent to prison today for 22 years.

Aaron Mark Duggan, 28, was sentenced by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo on the basis of a guilty verdict returned by a jury on June 1. Besides finding that it was a hate crime, the jury also determined the victim suffered great bodily injury and that the defendant personally used a knife.

The attack occurred on April 22, 2008, on the track of a junior high school in San Dimas. The victim, Yoo Sun, then 22, was stabbed in the back and ear. A companion who was walking with Sun was attacked, but although bruised, suffered no stab wounds.

Duggan was arrested shortly after the attack and held on a probation violation stemming from an assault conviction in San Luis Obispo County in September 2004. He was charged with the San Dimas attack on March 13, 2008, He has remained in custody on $1.12 million bond.

The defendant was charged with attempted murder. After a trial, the jury found him guilty of the lesser charge of attempted voluntary manslaughter.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney George Castello of the Hate Crimes Section.