It looks like at least one jury was willing to look past all the politically correct charges and actually examine what happened:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...9CD5897B2021EC658625710F0058D86F?OpenDocument
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...9CD5897B2021EC658625710F0058D86F?OpenDocument
Man acquitted of hate crime in fight with neighbors
By William Lamb
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/08/2006
BELLEVILLE
It took a St. Clair County jury less than a half-hour Tuesday to find a State Park Place man not guilty of a hate crime for his role in a fight with three Hispanic neighbors last year.
The all-white jury of six men and six women acquitted Harold W. Stufflebean, 39, on one count each of a hate crime and mob action in circuit court in Belleville.
Stufflebean had been accused of joining a scuffle outside his house in the 500 block of Art Street about 11 p.m. on June 10 after his son Chris, who was involved in the fight, called for his help. Prosecutors alleged that Stufflebean entered the melee yelling, "white power" and "we should kill the Mexican dogs."
Two people, both of whom testified for the prosecution on Tuesday, were treated for minor injuries after the scuffle.
Stufflebean, a tall, mustachioed man with his long, dark hair pulled back in a tight ponytail, denied using the racial language when he took the stand in his own defense Tuesday afternoon. He said he joined the fray simply to protect Chris and a younger son, Paul. He said he leaped out of an open window, dressed only in his underwear, to break up the fight.
"The first thing I thought of was my son," Stufflebean said. He added: "I thought something was wrong with my kids."
The verdict arrived at the end of a single day of testimony from witnesses who frequently contradicted one another in their accounts of the incident. At the end of the trial, it was still unclear why the fight had started in the first place.
State Park Place is a largely white, unincorporated residential area tucked in between Fairmount Race Track and the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site.
Testifying for the prosecution, Russell Nava, 22, said that Stufflebean used the phrase "white power" and said, "You'll all be dead tomorrow." Nava said that Stufflebean hit him with rocks and with his fists. Nava's account was supported by testimony from two other witnesses who testified with the aid of a translator.
Chris Stufflebean, 17, and Paul Stufflebean, 15, both pleaded guilty to one count each of a hate crime and mob action, but both said Tuesday that they did so only to avoid serving jail time. At the request of Assistant State's Attorney Steven R. Sallerson, Chris showed jurors a tattoo of a swastika on his right shoulder accompanied by the slogan "White Power."
Chris Stufflebean, who acknowledged being "wasted" at the time of the fight, said that he is not a racist. He denied using racial slurs in an interview with St. Clair County Sheriff's Deputy Scott Purtile.
Purtile, who is black, testified that Chris "referred to the Mexicans as 'brownies' (and) said they needed to get out of State Park Place.'"
Harold Stufflebean said that he had urged his son to hide the tattoo.
"I told him, 'That's got to be covered up,'" Stufflebean testified. "'That's going to cause more problems than you've even thought of.'"
In his closing arguments, defense attorney Brian Kreisler reminded the jurors that Howard Stufflebean was on trial, not his son.
"Did he (join the fight) because they were Hispanic?" Kreisler said, referring to Stufflebean's neighbors. "No. He did it because his kids were out there and he went out to get them back. This is not a mob action. This is not a hate crime. This is a fight."
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