(Wakefield, RI)--A hate crime trial for a Rhode Island woman will continue into a second week next week.Christine Longo of South Kingstown allegedly told a black man from East Providence to, quote, "go back to his country" at a restaurant in Narragansett last summer and is also accused of verbally-assaulting his family.Longo faces a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct, but the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office has added a hate crime sentencing enhancement if she is convicted.Longo's attorney argued at the trial in Wakefield District Court this week that her remarks, though offensive, are protected by free-speech rights.
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