Mevludin Hidanovic.
written by Julie R. Neidlinger 25 comments link this postGraeme emailed a number of people this morning alerting us to a story that I hadn't even been aware. This was part of his point over at his blog, that not much had been made of the story. He recommended contacting the Cass County State's Attorney after reading through the material and coming to your own conclusion.
I thought I would simply let you know of the details and provide links and let you go from there, similar to the Eric Volz post.
Summary (as told by Graeme):
Mevludin Hidanovic needs our help. He was convicted (and sentenced to 18 months in jail) for his involvement in a fight last summer during the Red River Valley Fair in West Fargo, North Dakota. There was a brawl, involving 20 to 30 people and a baseball bat. Mevludin was the one who got charged for fighting with the baseball bat (the bat has since disappeared). Mevludin has maintained his innocence since the beginning. Mevludin has also voluntarily taken a lie detector test (along with a witness and his wife). The evidence against him was shaky at best, it relied on one person who said they might have seen him there. But evidence (or lack there of) aside, after the trial a juror admitted that she found him guilty because of her past experiences with Roma Bosnians.
A few statements from the juror's affidavit:
"I used my own experiences with ethnic groups, specifically Bosnians and/or Gypsies, to influence the jury."
"I told the jury that I had personal experience with Bosnians and that they stole from my business and in the same experience lied to me regarding the theft and their conduct. Even though I had never met Mr. Hidanovic, or any of the witnesses, Mr. Hidanovic and the witnesses' race was discussed in a negative way."
"I interjected into the deliberations the concept that if Mr. Hidanovic wasn't guilty of this crime he was guilty of something else."
After this was made public, the judge still refused to grant a new trial. The Hidanovics have lost their home, car and faith in the justice system over this ordeal.
Some excerpts from a Fargo Forum article, written by Steven Wagner:
Rettig, 36, submitted an affidavit claiming she sought to convict Hidanovic because of experiences with Bosnians. Her affidavit, filed after Hidanovic received an 18-month prison sentence, says she convinced jurors to convict Hidanovic but no longer believes he is guilty.
The allegations by Rettig show Hidanovic didn’t receive a fair trial, lawyer David Chapman argued.
“You have a proceeding that at its very base becomes unfair,” he said.
Assistant Cass County State’s Attorney Mark Boening said the comments wouldn’t affect an average North Dakota juror, a position supported by affidavits by 11 other jurors from the trial.
The judge sided with Boening.
[...]
Rettig’s comments are “reprehensible” but inadmissible, Webb said.
An average North Dakota juror wouldn’t base a decision on Rettig’s comments, which were general and unrelated to the trial, he said.
[...]
Hidanovic likely faces deportation unless the conviction is overturned. His wife, Chanda, and other supporters declined comment.
Rettig said she lost her job Thursday at O’Kelly’s Tastes and Toddies, a Fargo bar where Brandborg ran into her by coincidence after the trial. [Brandborg was a court-appointed defense lawyer]
[...]
The judge rejected several legal arguments for Hidanovic. Some of the rulings mirrored those made by Webb during the three-day trial in January.
Earlier this week, Rettig said she believed Hidanovic wasn’t guilty but that Brandborg pressured her into filing an affidavit. She also claimed he didn’t include her changes and edits to the final version, which she signed.
Brandborg, who wrote the motion for a new trial, denied her claims. He left the courtroom when Webb said he would deny a new trial.
An eyewitness account sent to Graeme (summarized here):
According to a later description of the incident by someone who was there, Hidanovic had been on a fair ride with his wife and a friend and arrived at the scene of the fight after it had finished. They had hurried to the scene because they were told a member of their family might be involved and though it possible a younger brother of Hidanovic might be in danger. However, waiting for the ride operator to bring the ride to a stop so they could exit it put them at the scene when the fight was over.
Links:
- MSNBC: Judge denies new trial
- Forum: Guilty verdict stands (requires registration to read)
- Graeme's post
- Juror's affidavit (PDF)
- Free Hidanovic web site
Labels: current events, north dakota
Copyright (c) Julie R. Neidlinger 4/12/2007 09:35:00 AM
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25 Comments:
Thanks Julie. I know one of the witnesses that took a lie detector test and I also know one of the people that pleaded guilty to fighting and I am confident that Mr. Hidanovic is innocent. The other people involved in the fight are scared of being connected to the baseball bat, so they aren't helping much at all.
As far as the actual fight goes, I haven't read many details about it, but I am told it was pretty ridiculous. One is safe to assume a lot of male, macho nonsense was involved. I don't think anyone is exactly sure how it started, but it obviously escalated very quickly. (Interesting post about Eric Volz too.)
By 
Graeme, at
12/4/07 11:38
Thank you so much for sharing my story. I appreciate it. I feel like I want the world to know what is going on here in Fargo North Dakota.
By 
, at
12/4/07 12:14
What is going on in Fargo, North Dakota? I think that people are finally getting fed up with refugees being graciously recieved into the community and then seeing them SUCK the system dry. I am hopeful that Hidanovic's conviction will send the message that unlawful behavior will no longer be tolerated.
By , at
13/4/07 09:02
Robbie, your feelings about refugees aside, does it not bother you that Hidanovic may be innocent? Would you rather not see that a fair trial in which there is not question as to what went on in with the jury was afforded Hidanovic?
I believe you would want that for yourself and for anyone you cared about.
Lumping this into an us-against-them mentality is what Rettig did in the first place and now says she should not have.
I could say a lot more here on this comment, but I think I'll just stop. Suffice it to say that any time we are satisfied with a justice system in question, we shoot ourselves in the foot.
By Julie, at
13/4/07 09:41
Robbie,
Mevludin has never "sucked" the system in anyway since he has been here. From day one he has worked; sometimes two jobs to make it. He has never had medical assitance or food stamps. He just went without. He has worked night jobs in factories and even cooked at Arby's until he learned English. He was doing all the shit jobs Americans don't want to take. I never once felt as though he was "graciously" recieved into this community. I have been with him; filling our car with gas and had people give us the finger and tell us to go back to our country. Gracious Huh? I agree with you that unlawful behavior should not be tolerated and the person who did the crime should pay. There was a person who did have a bat and the fair and did hurt people and HE should have to pay for that. Mevludin is not that person. Polygraph tests prove that. They have the wrong man sitting in jail for nothing. What message does that send Robbie? It sent a message to the guy who really did this....that he can get away with it and will probably do it again. And another thing Robbie...where are you from? Your grandparents and their parents? Are you 100% Native American or did some of your family at one time immigrate here? America is a melting pot of people from all cultures. So don't even go there about refugees. I am 100% Native American do have something to say about them too?
By , at
13/4/07 09:53
Thank you for providing an important and different view, Chanda. It's very similar to what I wrote earlier about telling the story so that people might see a situation differently.
It is too easy to just lump people in a group of "them" and form completely off-base opinions because the people we lumped together don't belong together in the first place. I've been working on a blog post about how we have to see people as individuals and not as part of a group, otherwise we associate the group stereotype on people who do not deserve it.
I'm waiting for Graeme to weigh in on this, also...
...ahem.
By Julie, at
13/4/07 10:04
I have no animosity towards refugees from ANY country and/ or Native Americans (wasn't even mentioned in previous post)and am very sorry to have come across that way. I had read a story in the Fargo Forum that Hidanovic had been caught fishing without a license and had told the warden that he had one, and then when given the opportunity to go home and get it, he purchased one and tried to pass off that he had one all along. In my veiw, this would indicate an individual of questionable integrity. Also if you or Hidanovic know who the alledged parties who are responsible are, you should have come forth with the information.
By , at
13/4/07 11:19
Robbie, I'm sure there are lots of people that have done things that would indicate questionable integrity. He wasn't on trial for a fishing violation, but for a fight.
By , at
13/4/07 11:46
The articles in the Forum are not accurate. There is one glimmer of truth per paragraph. I contacted the Forum and asked them to correct things (which they have not) Steve Wagner should be fired. They even had the wrong person's picture on the very article you are referring to! The fishing license thing was ridiculous. Mevludin had never been fishing before and did not realize you even needed a license to fish. The game warden told him that if he purchased a license and explained to the judge that he didn't know about having to have a license that maybe the judge would dismiss the case. That didn't happen; he was fined in which he paid his fine immediately and never fished again. I am frustrated that we bring people to our country and do not educate them about these types of things. Who's job is it to tell them about fishing license's, car insurances, child support and all those things that can come up living in the USA? We did not see the fight and did not actually see who had the bat so we are no help. We have heard from people who were there and witnessed the whole thing and who had the bat. They were too scared to come forward. They were scared they could be arrested and deported too. They also feared the guy who did it would come after them or their families. We offered to pay with our own money for this "bat person" to take a lie detector test and he has refused. Why couldn't the bat be fingerprinted and this whole thing over with? Several Bosnian men who were actually part of the fight came forward after Melvudin was sentenced. They were absolutely shocked someone who wasn't even there suring the fight could go to jail. They went in to the police and said they were a part of it and saw who actually had the bat. They came forward willingly and have now also been charged with being in the fight (they got misdemeanors and a fine). It didn't help Melvudin at all. The police claim they were bribed or threatened to come forward. This whole mess is insane.
By , at
13/4/07 11:54
Robbie's nonsense is much more racist than what Imus said.
The article in the forum was titled something like "troubling history complicates case." It reinforced (maybe intentionally, maybe not) the belief that if he isn't guilty of this crime, he is guilty of something else. (It's not just Americans that think that either. I have talked to a few Bosnians that have said such things.)
By Graeme, at
14/4/07 17:55
I want to make it clear that when I say "racist," I truely mean it. (I don't want to sound like someone saying "Bush is a Fascist," simply for shock value, when he clearly isn't.)
Robbie's first comment is almost certainly racist. Without knowning any background information, or knowing the info and not caring, Robbie states his true feelings on refugees. He uses some trivial fishing violation as rational for his judgement of Mevludin's character, even though he surely made up his mind before knowing anything about the violation. He may or may not be right about Mevludin, but that doesn't change the fact that he is a racist.
It almost makes you long for the days when you didn't have to be so PC. People were racist and they admitted it. They were proud of it. Stick to your guns dude. If you are going to be a racist, quit being such a pussy about it.
By Graeme, at
14/4/07 21:00
Before I could even pretend to be offended. I would need to know what an uninteresting,mommies boy, ass clown's definition of a racist is?
By , at
15/4/07 20:14
And now, a word from our sponsor:
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Robbie, you're a regular reader. Thank you. Graeme, you're a friend. Thank you. By all means, continue to debate here or on Graeme's blog.
However, do not let the conversation degenerate because even if that is common on other blogs, it isn't here.
If anyone is going to be using the word "ass" it'll be me.
And I hate clowns.
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We now continue with our regular programming.
By Julie, at
15/4/07 22:39
mommie's boy? Ok, that's true.
By Graeme, at
16/4/07 00:46
Please take a minute out of your day and e-mail the state's attorney.
Mark.boening@co.cass.nd.us
Thanks!
By , at
17/4/07 14:44
Court records show Hidanovic pleaded guilty in February to a menacing
charge for a fight outside the West Fargo VFW last May, about a month
before the Red River Valley Fair fight.
A woman accused Hidanovic of dragging her by the hair and kicking her
in the stomach. He said he was breaking up a fight and did not hit
her.
The woman Hidanovic married last year, Chanda Thomte, told police in
2004 that Hidanovic beat her, threatened to kill her and her father,
ordered other Bosnian men to follow her and attempted to push her car
into oncoming traffic with his BMW. Officers reported bruises, cuts
and swelling to her eye, jaw, arms and legs.
"She also has informed me that she would recant any statement she
gives to me for fear that she would be in danger or her parents would
be in danger," Officer Julie Hinkel wrote in a June 21, 2004, report.
She attributed the couple's problems to the inability to communicate
and understand differences in their cultures. Counseling helped them
work through problems, she said.
By , at
4/6/07 16:59
OK yes we did get into a fight. I am sure no other couples have done that before. I was yelling at him and someone called the police. We were going to break up. I was fed up with the differences in cultures. I would never be the perfect Bosnian wife who irons his jeans. It was a difficult time for us but we managed to pull through it. We are after all married now. When the police got to my place there were as many marks on Mevludin as there were on
me. Mevludin chose not to press charges on me but I was pissed and told the police eveything they wanted to hear. Did I ever think it would someday be splattered all over every newspaper in ND?? NO. I do regret all of it. We did go to couseling and anger management. We do communicate better now. If you have never done anything in your life that you regret then I COMMEND you! I am far from perfect.
And as for the woman that accused Mevludin of hurting her. Mevludin's brother was actually in a fight. His brother was drinking at a wedding and another guy who was also drinking started fighting. Mevludin got in between them and broke it up. The woman who claims to be injured threw herself into it all trying to fight with her drunk husband.
I am not making excuses for Mevludin I am just trying to shed more light on a negative article in the paper. The news can make anyone look bad if they want. Just because Mevludin did manage to get himself tangled into a couple of ridiculous situations does not make him guilty of every violent crime from now on! You cannot and should not be found guilty for anything you may have done in your past or for your race!
By , at
9/6/07 17:08
Hey people i was reading all of this cause i was bored... but anyways thats not the point. LOOk i am GYPSY too and i saw the figth im not saying i saw who had the bat. But the Goverment in Fargo SUCKS they dont give free MONEY like u Americans think. Sure they give food stamps to some but not all of US. And we dont work in to factories there is jobs that pay better and every where u go Americans always telling us to go back to our county and say you got those cars from OUR money.. no its not their money if it was they would be the ones driving the car. And Gypsyies hate when people talk about them they not gonna stand your shit they are gonna do something about it. We know we call the cops and they dont do nothing. Two days before this figth the MEXINCANS started to figth wit kids that the oldetst was 17 years old... (yes these are the same mexincas that were in the figth) we didnt call the cops we ran away cause we knew cops aren't gonna do nothing. And we got into a car crash the car was tolted when the cops came we told him he didn't belive us like we thougth he woudn't two days later we go the the fair again some mexincas start again ended up wit a figth. And after all this the mexicans still wanna figth told the cops if they find any gypsy the would send him to the hospital and still they didnt do nothing. So some of u Ameriacans think of what your doing
By , at
17/6/07 03:41
SO you saw who had the bat but don't want to say anything?? YOU DON'T CARE THAT MEVLUDIN IS SITTING IN JAIL FOR NO REASON?? It is wrong to let an innocent person sit in jail. IT IS WRONG TO HIT SOMEONE OVER THE HEAD WITH A BAT!
Fargo does not suck. The police department sucks. This is actually a very nice place to live. A corrupt police dept is all it takes. Mevludin buys and sells scrap metal for a business. We had a bunch of our copper wire stolen. We called the police and they didn't want to take a police report because there have been to many copper thefts lately to do a report on all of them. So then Mevludin's American friend Jeremy called and said some of his copper wire was stolen (it was actually Mevludin's) and the police took a police report. Hmmmmmm.
Our system is flawed and I am going to to everything I can to help my husband. He doesn't deserve this.
I think it's hilarious this little teenager had to put his comment in here. He said Gypies don't like when American people talk shit about them. THEY TALK MORE SHIT ABOUT EACH OTHER...than any American would care too. I have never met a culture who gossips and talks about each other all the time like the Bosians do. Be with just one of them for fifteen minutes and their cell phone will ring no less than 20 times. Ridiculous.
By , at
17/6/07 17:37
What i meant to say is i didnt see the person who had the bat if i did i would of told the police. Yea we talk shit about each other and we don't care.. its like when a black person calls a diffenrnet black person NIGGA they dont care (no offence) but when a diffrent race says it to them then there is trouble there. And yea thats wat i mean every GYPSY person works with scrap metal and make more money then they would of working in factoires. I dont like when people who don't do something wrong go to go jail the person who had the bat should go. AND yea FARGO is not a bad place to live i meant when gypsy people call the police they don't care but if some one else does then they do? Like you said mevludin calledthe police about his copper wire t they didn't take a report but his friend called Jeremy they were more then willing to take a report JUST BECAUSE HE IS WHITE..
By , at
17/6/07 19:26
Hey Chanda Hidanovic i read a article that said you lost your home your cars.. but if that is the case why did ur husband buy a new car just before we went to jail he bougth A BMW M3 those cars aren't cheap you know?? so dont dont say u lost ur cars and home paying for lawyers when u were buying cars
By , at
17/6/07 19:47
I'm glad that everyone feels free to discuss the case.
However, please limit it to the case and not border on personal attacks over lifestyle, finances, etc.
I have, so far, published all comments, but from here on out, I will be watching this post and the kinds of comments being left.
Comment on the actual case, and not extraneous things.
Thank you.
--The Management
By Julie, at
17/6/07 19:56
Do see me driving the car? NO!! We bought it one month and sold it the next when we found out how long he is going to jail. Come and check my garage. We had to sell it to pay for lawyers. If you were at the fight when who did you see fight? Did you see Mevludin. The point is...we are paying for what everyone else did. Yes we did have to move to a cheaper place to live and yes we did have to sell our cars. WE ARE PAYING FOR WHAT EVERYONE ELSE DID.
By , at
17/6/07 20:54
I have no reason to lie about anything (If Mevludin was in the fight I would say so). I wouldn't tell people I sold my cars if I didn't. We have one car registered to us at the DMV...a 2001 eclipse. Do you have any idea how much money lawyers cost? I just got another bill for $5,000 so he will continue to work on the case. The appeal process to the ND Supreme Court costs $25,000 and up. Just sending money to Mevludin every week so he can buy calling cards, pop and snacks gets expensive. I drive three hours to visit him in jail every week and that costs money too. We did nothing to derserve this. Having the wrong person pay for another person's mistake is terrible.
By , at
17/6/07 21:27
COMMENTS ON THIS POST ARE NOW CLOSED.
By , at
17/6/07 21:30
