Ralph Yarl shooting investigated as hate crime as suspect Andrew Lester pleads not guilty

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The shooting of Ralph Yarl is being investigated by the Justice Department as a hate crime, his lawyers said, as suspect Andrew Lester pleaded not guilty during his first court appearance.

Mr Lester, 84, used a cane as he was arraigned in Kansas City on Wednesday afternoon, entering two not-guilty pleas to first-degree assault and armed criminal action, reported KCUR.

The judge also set his next court date for 1 June at 1.30pm. Mr Lester will remain out on $200,000 bond but is banned from possessing any type of weapon, must have no contact with Ralph Yarl’s family and his cell phone will be monitored.

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He also cannot leave the state of Missouri without permission from his bond supervisor and must surrender his passport and concealed carry permit.

Lee Merritt, the lawyer for Ralph Yarl’s family, told reporters outside Clay County Courthouse that the shooting was now being probed by the Justice Department as a hate crime.

“Before I even made it to Kansas City, we reached out to the Department of Justice, myself and my co-counsel Ben Crump, we have some longstanding relationships there,” Mr Merritt said, according to KCUR.

“We thought that this was something the DOJ should be looking into. They are (looking into it). It’s under investigation, they’ve received our complaint and now they’re looking into it.”

Mr Merritt was speaking after Mr Lester pleaded not guilty to shooting the 16-year-old high school student.

“I want him to spend the rest of his life in prison,” Mr Merritt said. “All of his assets are going to become Ralph’s.”

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Mr Lester is accused of shooting the 16-year-old in the head and hand after the teen mistakenly rang the doorbell at the wrong home as he tried to collect his younger twin brothers.

Following Mr Lester’s not-guilty pleas, Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson released a statement on the case moving forward.

“Today, an arraignment was held in the case of State of Missouri v. Andrew D. Lester. In Missouri, every defendant is entitled to an initial arraignment where charges are read and a next court date set. In this case, the defendant waived formal reading of the charges and the Court continued the case to 1 June, 2023 at 1.30pm.

“The purpose of this continuance is to allow the defendant’s attorney, who only filed his entry of appearance today, to review the case and for the State to fulfil its statutory and constitutional obligations to provide discovery to the defendant. From this point forward, the State will be pushing to move this case forward as swiftly as legally permitted.

“While charges have been filed, this remains an active investigation. We are continuing to work with law enforcement to gather any and all evidence available in this case. If anyone in the community has information that would assist in this case, we ask that you please contact the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department or other law enforcement.

“Now that this is an active and pending case, our office is severely limited in the information we can publicly disclose. This is due to our desire to protect the legal integrity of the case and ensure that justice is served for the victim and our community. Despite these restrictions, we will be as transparent as legally permitted and strive to keep the public informed of any developments.”