Media Coverage

Juror says lawyer pressured her
By Steven P. Wagner swagner@forumcomm.com
Metro/State - 04/05/2007

A juror who changed her mind about Mevludin Hidanovic’s guilt after his trial says a lawyer pressured her into filing an affidavit in support of a new trial.

Becky Rettig said her affidavit, filed after Hidanovic received an 18-month prison sentence for a fight at last sum mer’s Red River Valley Fair fight, takes some comments out of context, including how big of a role his ethnicity played in reaching the verdict.

“The way the affidavit is, it makes me look horrible,” Rettig, 36, said Wednesday. “I felt like I was used as the person to get things going.”

The affidavit, in which Rettig says she used undue influence based on her experiences with Bosnians to convince the other jurors, came about following what Attorney Ross Brandborg calls a chance meeting between the two at the Fargo bar where Rettig works.

It was the same day East Central District Judge Wade Webb ordered Hidanovic to prison.

Rettig said she approached Brandborg, who represented Hidanovic at the January trial, to tell him she had a change of heart, and he interviewed her. The affidavit, she said, was based on their talk. She e-mailed changes to it but said Brandborg didn’t include them in the final version.

The lawyer said he negotiated language in the affidavit over several weeks. He said Rettig volunteered information.

“I wanted her to be comfortable and it to be the truth,” Brandborg said. “I certainly didn’t want to pressure anyone.”

However, Rettig said she’s since contacted an attorney to protect her interests and has kept e-mails to verify her story.

Bill Neumann, executive director for the State Bar Association of North Dakota, said any lawful or ethical violations hinge on whether anyone knowingly filed a false affidavit.

“It all boils down to what did she tell him?” Neumann said.

Brandborg filed a motion for a new trial following the verdict. The court-appointed lawyer cited seven reasons Hidanovic deserves a new trial and then stepped down from the case.

A hearing is scheduled today for lawyers to discuss several of the issues.

Hidanovic, 29, is a Roma Bosnian who fled his wartorn country to Germany in 1992. He immigrated to Fargo in 1999 and operated his own scrap metal business for the past few years.

A police report says Hidanovic demanded others to repay him for $50,000 in cash used to bond out of jail between his trial and Feb. 28 sentencing hearing. His family hired attorney David Chapman, experienced in immigration law, to handle any appeals.

Last week, a Cass County sheriff ’s detective contacted the 11 other jurors in the case to learn more about deliberations and whether Hidanovic’s ethnicity was discussed.
Six of the jurors said race was mentioned during their discussion but none said it factored into the verdict.

Cass County officials said they won’t comment on pending investigations. County.” Readers can reach Forum reporter Steven P. Wagner at (701) 241-5542.