Media Coverage

Guilty verdict stands
By Steven P. Wagner, swagner@forumcomm.com
Front page - 04/06/2007

A judge rejected Mevludin Hidanovic’s request Thursday for a new trial, upholding a jury’s guilty verdict while calling one juror’s allegations “reprehensible.”

Witnesses during a three-day trial gave the jury sufficient evi dence to convict Hidanovic for engaging in a riot while armed, a felony charge stemming from a Red River Valley Fair fight, said East Central District Judge Wade Webb.

“There is no room in this courtroom for prejudice,” Webb said. “It is not acceptable.”
Rettig, 36, submitted an affidavit claiming she sought to convict Hidanovic because of experiences with Bosnians. Her affidavit, filed after Hidanovic received an 18-month prison sentence, says she convinced jurors to convict Hidanovic but no longer believes he is guilty.

The allegations by Rettig show Hidanovic didn’t receive a fair trial, lawyer David Chapman argued.

“You have a proceeding that at its very base becomes unfair,” he said.

Assistant Cass County State’s Attorney Mark Boening said the comments wouldn’t affect an average North Dakota juror, a position supported by affidavits by 11 other jurors from the trial.

The judge sided with Boening.

“It truly is a change of heart,” Webb said while describing Rettig’s affidavit. “That is not allowed to impeach a jury’s verdict.”

Rettig’s comments are “reprehensible” but inadmissible, Webb said.

An average North Dakota juror wouldn’t base a decision on Rettig’s comments, which were general and unrelated to the trial, he said.

Hidanovic, 29, is a Roma Bosnian who moved to Fargo in 1999.

About 25 supporters showed up for Thursday’s hearing. Among those attending was Ross Brandborg, the courtappointed defense lawyer during Hidanovic’s trial.

Chapman said he’ll seek another hearing based on new details in the case.

“I’m going to let this be decided in the courts,” said Chapman, who declined comment about the case or a possible appeal to the North Dakota Supreme Court.

Hidanovic likely faces deportation unless the conviction is overturned. His wife, Chanda, and other supporters declined comment.

Rettig said she lost her job Thursday at O’Kelly’s Tastes and Toddies, a Fargo bar where Brandborg ran into her by coincidence after the trial.

“I wish the outcome could have been what the Hidanovics were looking for,” Rettig said.
The judge rejected several legal arguments for Hidanovic. Some of the rulings mirrored those made by Webb during the three-day trial in January.

Earlier this week, Rettig said she believed Hidanovic wasn’t guilty but that Brandborg pressured her into filing an affidavit. She also claimed he didn’t include her changes and edits to the final version, which she signed.

Brandborg, who wrote the motion for a new trial, denied her claims. He left the courtroom when Webb said he would deny a new trial.