Sonoma County Man Convicted Of Hate Crime In Marin County

NORTH BAY, CA — A jury recently handed down a hate crime conviction for an October incident, where prosecutors said a man attacked a Black woman's car and hurled racial slurs at her in the parking lot of the Novato Fair Shopping Center.

Police arrested Robert Lynn Thorne, 39, of Petaluma, two hours after he spat on the hood of the woman's car, kicked her car door and scratched the paint, resulting in $1,000 in property damage, according to the Marin County District Attorney's Office.

On March 29, a Marin County Superior Court jury found Thorne guilty of the misdemeanor charge, for which he was sentenced to serve 80 days in jail, complete one year of probation, serve 15 hours of volunteer work, and pay $270 in fines.

Hate crime investigators helped trial attorneys prove that Thorne committed vandalism "due to the defendant's bias or hatred of the victim due to her race in violation of her civil rights."

"Hate crimes harm not only the victim but also our community," Marin County District Attorney Lori Frugoli said. "We thank the victim for standing up and reporting this crime to the Novato Police Department. We thank the jury for their jury service and for returning a guilty verdict on this disturbing and harmful crime."

Thorne's conviction came one day before Frugoli testified before a state Senate committee, asking lawmakers to grant more freedom to issue search warrants related to hate crime investigations.