Amish Attacks Defendants Appeal

The last two of 16 Amish people found guilty in beard- and hair-cutting attacks on fellow Amish have appealed their convictions.A son-in-law and nephew of ringleader Samuel Mullet Senior brings to 16 the number of appeals filed. The defendants, all members of Mullet's extended family, challenged the constitutionality of the hate crimes act as overly broad. The trial judge rejected the claim. They were convicted in five attacks in Eastern Ohio in 2011 in retaliation against Amish who had defied or denounced Mullet's authoritarian style.