NH AG's Office Opts for Hate Crime Prosecution

New Hampshire's Attorney General's office has charged a Newmarket man with violating the state's hate crime law.

Richard Labbe was originally accused of second degree assault in the death of Thung Phetakoune, an elderly Laotian man.

But today prosecutors announced the charges have been upgraded to second degree murder under the state's hate crime law.

That statute calls for Labbe to face up to an additional 30 years, if convicted.

Ted Kirkpatrick is director of Justiceworks, a criminal justice policy research center at the University of New Hampshire.

Kirkpatrick told NHPR's Mark Bevis that New Hampshire should expect to see more of these prosecutions in the future.