By Denny Walsh
dwalsh@sacbee.com
A white, middle-aged couple were found guilty Thursday in Sacramento federal court of interfering with the right of an east Indian man to be in a public area at South Lake Tahoe because of his ethnic origin and the color of his skin.
A jury deliberated approximately 90 minutes before delivering its verdict against Georgia Silva, 52, and husband Joseph Silva, 56.
Vishal Wadhwa, 40, a naturalized U. S. citizen and bank executive from San Francisco, testified the Silvas beat him viciously in a picnic area on July 14, 2007, after he questioned them about a racial slur allegedly hurled by Georgia Silva at Ayesha Matthews, then Wadhwa's fiancé and now his wife.
Wadhwa said Matthews, 31, told him Georgia Silva said "Indian sluts" and another derogatory comment as Matthews and her teenage cousin, both of east Indian descent, walked by where the Silvas were sitting on a Lake Tahoe beach.
When he confronted the couple, Wadhwa said, Joseph Silva exploded in expletives, and said, "I'll put you down."
Wadhwa retreated to the picnic area above the beach and was phoning police when the couple caught up with him and the dispute turned into a physical altercation, with the Silvas uttering racial epithets even as they beat him, he told the jury. According to the testimony of Wadhwa, Matthews, and other witnesses, Wadhwa was pinned to the ground by Georgia Silva while her husband administered several hard kicks to his head.
He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital and suffered lasting damage to his head, Wadhwa testified.
The jury acquitted the Silvas of interfering with Matthews' right to be at the public beach and picnic grounds.
Call The Bee's Denny Walsh, (916) 321-1189.
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