Hate crime mistrial declared
COEUR d'ALENE (AP) - A judge declared a mistrial in the trial of three Coeur d'Alene brothers accused of racially harassing a Hispanic family in August.
Kootenai County 1st District Judge John Luster objected Tuesday to prosecutors playing a 911 tape from the family's neighbor. In the tape, the neighbor says Ira Tankovich, 48, William Tankovich, 49, and Frank Tankovich, 46, threatened Kenneth Requena and his family because of their race.
Prosecutors say the Tankovich brothers drove by Requena's home in August in a truck decorated with a swastika and stopped after seeing the Requenas, returning later with a gun and a pit bull dog.
Luster said prosecutors weren't following appropriate procedures by playing the tape, because they must first prove Requena was threatened before asserting the threat was racially motivated.
Luster scheduled a new trial for April 12.