Media Coverage

Three more face charges in fight with bat
By Steven P. Wagner, swagner@forumcomm.com
Metro/State - 03/30/2007

Three more men face misdemeanor charges stemming from last summer’s Red River Valley Fair fight, which landed one person in the hospital with injuries caused by an aluminum baseball bat.

The June 24 fight prompted an extensive investigation by Cass County sheriff ’s officials and led to the convictions of four men, including one who claims he’s innocent.
Prosecutors filed the latest charges after Fargo police talked to several people who claimed Mevludin Hidanovic, convicted Jan. 5 by a jury for his role in the fight, was innocent.

Court papers show Fahludin Hidanovic, who pleaded guilty last year for his role in the fight but is no known relation to Mevludin, told officers:

Nearly a dozen men met at a Fargo apartment after the trial. Ismet Hidanovic pulled out a large amount of cash and later bailed out his brother, Mevludin, with $50,000.

Mevludin told the men that they must pay him for the bail money and give his family $5,000 per week, the amount he makes selling scrap metal. Mevludin Hidanovic threatened to kill someone if he went to jail and Ismet Hidanovic said he’d break people’s legs.

Sheriff ’s officials interviewed many of the men in the apartment. Some of the men’s stories conflicted with earlier statements given to investigators about the fight.

Fahludin Hidanovic reported the meeting to officers because he believed they would change their stories to put the bat in his hands. Witnesses at the trial testified Mevludin held the bat, supporting the charge of engaging in a riot while armed.

The interviews led to charges this month against three men.

Izet Beganovic, 27, 1804 39th St. S., Fargo, pleaded not guilty Thursday in Cass County District Court for engaging in the June 24 fight at the fair.

Two other men, Dulaga Mustafic, 40, 1415 34th St. S., Fargo, and Ismet Hidanovic, 26, 1515 14th Ave. E., West Fargo, face charges for giving false information to sheriff ’s investigators.

Ismet Hidanovic pleaded not guilty March 12 and Mustafic is scheduled to appear in court April 11.

A hearing is set Thursday for Mevludin Hidanovic, who wants a judge to grant a new trial. One of the jurors in the trial, Becky Rettig, filed an affidavit claiming Hidanovic’s ethnicity played a role in her arguments to convict him.

Investigators plan to talk with other jurors about Rettig’s claims that they talked about race during deliberations. It’s also likely statements s upporting the latest charges will be used to bolster Hidanovic’s motion for a new trial.

Previously, Sinan Suljic, 34, and Fikret Golubovic, 31, pleaded guilty to charges from the fight, which involved 20 to 30 people.