Judge: No new trial for Tankoviches

COEUR d'ALENE - Two Coeur d'Alene brothers convicted of a hate crime have been denied a new trial after a judge ruled there wasn't evidence of juror misconduct.

First District Judge John Luster ruled the presiding juror's actions were "unusual," but didn't rise to the level of "clear and convincing" evidence of misconduct, the Associated Press reported.

Frank Tankovich and William Tankovich Jr., of Coeur d'Alene, were convicted on Oct. 28, 2010, of malicious harassment and conspiracy to commit malicious harassment following an altercation in August 2009 outside the Coeur d'Alene home of Kenneth Requena, who is Puerto Rican.

During jury deliberations the presiding juror halted deliberations and sent a note to Luster with concerns about what were described as racist views of another juror, who eventually voted guilty.

Defense attorneys for the Tankoviches, Chris Schwartz and Jedediah Whitaker, had argued that the presiding juror exceeded her power. Luster ordered the jury to resume their work, though a verdict quickly followed.

Schwartz and Whitaker argued their clients' right to a fair trial was violated when the presiding juror and others pressured and bullied juror No. 6 after he shared his views.

Juror No. 6 told the others that he and his friends would sometimes draw swastikas on their trucks while out mud bogging. The other jurors then asked him if he was a racist.

His response to them was, "I'm not, but to a point I guess I am."

Juror No. 6, in a post-verdict interview with court officials, said that he didn't think his views prevented him from being a fair juror.

He said the treatment and reaction of the other jurors, in part, changed his mind, he said.

Schwartz and Whitaker wrote in their motion seeking a new trial that, "The post-verdict, in-chambers discussion with (juror No. 6) makes it clear that the unanimous verdict was the result of a compromise reached as a result of the presiding juror's conduct."