"Let's be clear: this was a hate crime," Bernstein's mother, Jeanne Pepper, told the court. "Samuel Woodward ended my son's life because my son was Jewish and gay."
"Blaze's memory and spirit will live on in every kind deed done in his honor," she said, reflecting on the impact of her son's tragic death.
Dozens of Bernstein's relatives and friends sat in the courtroom. Many wore T-shirts reading Blaze it Forward, a slogan for a campaign to commit acts of kindness in his name following his death.
Woodward's lawyer, Ken Morrison, asked the court to sentence his client to 28 years to life, saying the judge had some discretion in this regard and that the jurors were not permitted to see all the evidence in the case at trial.
Collection
[
|
...
]