Trial Transcripts

Prosecution Witness #8: Brandee Haas

THE COURT: For the State.
MR. BOENING: Thank you, Your Honor.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. BOENING:

Q	Please state your full name.
A	Brandee Lynn Haas.
Q	Ms. Haas, how do you spell your first name?
A	B-r-a-n-d-e-e.
Q	Ms. Haas, how do you spell your last name?
A	H-a-a-s.
Q	Ms. Haas, how old are you?
A	Twenty.
Q	What community do you live in now?
A	Fargo, Cass County.
Q	Ms. Haas, are you employed?
A	Yes, I am.
Q	What do you do for a living?
A	I’m a construction worker, carpentry and concrete.
Q	Ms. Haas, it appears that you are with child, is that correct?
A	Yes.
Q	What is your due date?
A	January 13th.
Q	So we’re very close to that today, is that right?
A	Yeah, I’m supposed to be on bed rest right now.
Q	Okay. We appreciate you coming in, in this case in response to the subpoena.           Ms. Haas, let me ask you a question about your prior criminal record. It is true ma’am, that you were in fact convicted at one point, I believe it’s in 2005, of Possession of a Controlled Substance, is that correct?
A	Yes sir.
Q	Ms. Haas, I want to direct your attention to the 24th of June, 2006. Did you go to the Red River Valley Fairgrounds on the evening of that day?
A	Yes I did.
Q	Who did you go to the fairgrounds with?
A	My mother.
Q	What’s your mother’s name?
A	Patty Rice.
Q	When you got to the fairgrounds, what did you do?
A	Rode on some rides and saw a couple of friends.
Q	Where did you go on the fairgrounds?
A	Where did I go?
Q	Where – what parts of the fairgrounds did you go to?
A	The food part and by the Ring of Fire, the Orbiter and everything.
Q	While you were in the Midway area, where the rides were on the fairgrounds this past summer, was there some sort of an incident that you observed.
A	Yes sir, there was.
Q	What did you see happen?
A	I saw a royal rumble going on. I got off a ride and I just saw a bunch of people fighting, and my mom was almost in the middle if. So I got off the ride and I grabbed her and I said, can’t get in the middle of that kind of stuff.
Q	What kind of ride had you been on?
A	I was on the Orbiter.
Q	So, did you see anything going on before you got onto the Orbiter? Was there –
A	No I did not.
Q	Okay. Did you ride the Orbiter by yourself or with someone else?
A	No, I rode it with another person, one of my friends, named Phillip.
Q	Okay, and was this a spinning ride?
A	Yeah, yeah.
Q	And after the ride stopped spinning, did you stop spinning?
A	Yeah.
Q	And when you got off the ride, what was happening when you got off the ride?
A	Right when I got off, I was looking for my mom, and I couldn’t see her. And then I saw, like the two people fighting right there, and I thought it was just them two, and then I look over and here all of the sudden – all these people and my mom was in the middle. And I ran up to her, and I grabbed her right away, and then I saw a baby stroller fall down, and I was like, “whoah”’ freaked out.
Q	It sounds like you get off the ride and first you see two people.
A	Uh-hum.
Q	Let’s use this courtroom to try to establish some distances. When you got off the ride and first saw these two people fighting with one another. For example, in relation to the distance between you and me right now, how far were you from the people that you first saw fighting?
A	It was from me to that wall probably.
Q	Okay, so you’re talking about the wall behind me?
A	Uh-hum.
Q	And so that may be thirty some feet or something like that, correct?
A	Uh-hum, it was close. It was like right when I got off the ride.
Q	Was it difficult to see what was happening? What were the lighting conditions like as you recall it?
A	It was – it rained out that day, and it was a little dim outside. I mean it was cloudy and everything, but you could see.
Q	Okay, so first you saw two people fighting with one another about thirty feet from you.
A	Uh-hum.
Q	But you were actually looking for your mom, right?
A	Yeah, I was worried about my mom.
Q	And so where did you then see your mom?
A	She was in the middle of everything, trying to get a baby stroller that fell down. And so I just grabbed her, and I said, you can’t be in the middle of that kind of stuff.
Q	When you talk about, now you’ve talked about two people fighting, and then you’ve talked about being in the middle of some other fighting.
A	Uh-hum.
Q	As best you can describe it, how many people were in this other group fighting with one another? What number of people did you see?
A	There was around like twenty – twenty-five people there. I mean there was a lot people there.
Q	Could – when you looked at these people fighting with one another, could you see any differences in the ethnicity of the people who were fighting?
A	Yes.
Q	You could.
A	Yes.
Q	What did you see, what did those – how did those two groups of people look different to you?
A	There was Mexican family, and then Bosnians.
Q	Okay.
A	And I know the difference pretty well.
Q	Okay, why do you know the difference pretty well?
A	Because I have a lot of Mexican friends.
Q	Okay.
A	I do.
Q	Okay, so you could see what appeared to you to be a Mexican family, and then a group of other individuals that you’ve described as Bosnians, is that correct?
A	Uh-hum.
Q	As best you can recall, how many Mexican people do you remember seeing there? Can you remember that?
A	I’d say eight, well including the children that I saw. I would say about eight maybe.
Q	You’ve mentioned a baby stroller.
A	Yeah.
Q	When you first saw the stroller, what was the – what condition was the stroller in? Was it upright?
A	It was on it’s side, and there was a child in there.
Q	Okay, and how close did your mother get to the child?
A	Pretty close until I grabbed her, about – I would say from you to me, I would say.
Q	Okay.
A	Yup.
Q	And why didn’t you want your mom to go help the child?
A	Because she could have gotten hit?  The way it was going, nobody cared about who they were gonna hit.
Q	Okay, so this was some sort of wild action, so to speak?
A	It did, something you’d see on TV, you know.
Q	Do you know – do you remember seeing any persons armed out there, using any objects?
A	With a bat.
Q	Okay, did you see a bat?
A	Yes I did.
Q	Did you see one bat or did you see more than one bat?
A	I saw one bat, and then a carnie – there was somebody messing with one of their poles, but there was a bat.
Q	Okay, so you get off the ride, you see your mom, you’re mom’s about to get involved in something where she might get hurt –
A	Yeah.
Q	-- you grab your mom, what else do you do after that?
A	We just stand back and watch everything, and I was sitting there screaming at the Bosnians trying to tell them to knock it off, there’s children there.  I didn’t know what else to do, I couldn’t – I didn’t want – I was pregnant at the time, you know.  I wasn’t gonna get in the middle of it.
Q	Do you know whether anyone called law enforcement?
A	Law enforcement didn’t show up there for a good twenty minutes into the fight. Finally they showed up, and I’m like, you guys took forever, or security or whatever.
Q	Okay, so your recollection is that it took a really long time –
A	Yeah.
Q	-- for law enforcement or security to get on the scene, is that correct?
A	Yeah, it lasted awhile, it did. I was surprised it last that long.
Q	Now, I think you’ve described a Mexican family, and what you’ve called Bosnians around this Mexican family.
A	Uh-hum.
Q	Was that the only group of people that you saw out there or was there something else going on out there, do you know?
A	No, that’s the only thing I saw. That’s the only thing I was paying attention to.
Q	Did you know any of the Mexican persons that you saw at the fairgrounds?
A	No.
Q	Did you know any of the Bosnian persons that you saw out there?
A	Uh-uh (negative response), no.
Q	And you cooperated with law enforcement, in fact you did give a written statement in this case?
A	Yup, yeah right away. I told them right away, I’ll give a statement right away, cause there was a lot of people that got hurt, including a child.
Q	But you weren’t able to provide law enforcement with the names of the persons who were responsible for what was going on, is that correct?
A	No.
Q	You were later interviewed on the 4th of July, 2006, is that correct?
A	Uh-hum.
Q	And Deputy Kulesa came to interview you, is that right?
A	Uh-hum.

MR. BOENING: Your Honor, may I approach the witness?
THE COURT:  You may.

Q	(BY MR. BOENING)  Ma’am, I ‘m going to show you two exhibits this morning. One has been labeled with this bright red sticker as State’s Exhibit #3. It bears a seven in a circle in the upper right hand corner of the exhibit. And the second exhibit I’m going to show you, is State’s Exhibit #4, and this is actually ten different documents. Each of these are separately numbered in the upper right hand corner, they’re one through six and eight through eleven.
A	Uh-hum.
Q	Have you ever seen those documents before?
A	Yes I have.
Q	When is it that you saw them?
A	At my mother’s house when the sheriff came and interviewed both of us separately.
Q	Okay, and why did the – what did the sheriff’s deputy ask you do to when he showed you those?
A	To look through them and to see if any of them were at the fight that I recognized.
Q	And did you in fact recognize one of the persons in the photographs?
A	Uh-hum.
Q	At least one as being out at the fairgrounds.
A	Uh-hum, yes I did.
Q	And is that person in one of those two documents in front of you there?
A	Uh-hum.
Q	Which one is it that you identified, ma’am?
A	I am pretty sure I identified both of them.
Q	Okay, the deputy actually showed you these photographs, and then after you identified the photographs of the persons, you signed the back of them, is that correct?
A	Uh-hum.
Q	If you would flip over to the backside of State’s Exhibit #3, do you recognize a signature on the back of that?
A	Yes I do, right here.
Q	Okay, whose signature do you recognize back there?
A	That is mine, --
Q	Okay.
A	-- and my mother’s, but mine.
Q	And did you in fact sign the back of that exhibit, State’s Exhibit #3, as one of the persons that you recognized as being out at the fairgrounds and participating in the fight?
A	Uh-hum, yes.
Q	When you were shown these photographs, did you know the names of the persons depicted in the photographs?
A	Uh-uh (negative response), no I did not.
Q	Do you remember what, if anything the deputy did -- you can see on those documents there’s a name right underneath the photograph. What did the deputy do so that you couldn’t see the pictures, do you recall? Or excuse me, --
A	Pardon?
Q	-- not see the picture, but couldn’t see the names on the bottom of the picture?
A	What did he do?
Q	Right, did –
A	I think it was just the picture.
Q	Okay, was the bottom folded over on those documents, ma’am?
A	I’m not sure if it was folded over, but it was just a picture.
Q	Okay, so you didn’t have any names, is that correct?
A	No, no I did not.
Q	Ma’am, you can see on the bottom of State’s Exhibit #3, it identifies the Defendant in this case as Mevludin Hidanovic, as being the person in State’s Exhibit #3, is that correct?
A	Yup.
Q	Did you know his name when the deputy showed you the photograph?
A	No I did not.
Q	Had you ever met the person in State’s Exhibit #3?
A	No.
Q	Have you ever had anything to do with him since the incident out at the fairgrounds?
A	No.
Q	Ma’am this incident took place in June, we’re now here in January. The Defendant is present in the courtroom, I know that you identified that photograph on the 4th of July, 2006. Today, do you recognize the Defendant present in the courtroom as one of the persons involved in the fight?
A	Yes, I’m pretty sure of it.
Q	Okay. When you say pretty sure, what’s – I know those are the words –
A	I’m positive, hundred percent positive he was at the fight.
Q	Okay, let me ask you one more question. You’ve said he’s at the fight, was he in fact participating in the fighting?
A	Yes.
Q	Do you recall whether he was – whether he was the person who was using an object or a bat?
A	I do not recall that though, I don’t.

MR. BOENING: Nothing further.
THE COURT: Mr. Brandborg, cross examination.
MR. BRANDBORG: Thank you, Your Honor.
CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. BRANDBORG:

Q	Morning, Ms. Haas.
A	Yeah, morning.
Q	Did I say that correctly? Ms. Haas?
A	Yes, you did.
Q	You said you’re due in January, that’s coming up, huh?
A	Yeah, nine days.
Q	I just have a couple of questions. You picked out two photos out of the lineup, correct?
A	Uh-hum.
Q	What’s the name on the other photo that you picked out?
A	Fikret Golubovic.
Q	Golubovic.
A	Golubovic, there you go.
Q	Okay, and Ms. Haas, do you recall previously giving a statement to law enforcement regarding those two individuals?
A	Previously?
Q	When you picked them out of a lineup?
A	I didn’t give a statement then, I gave a statement on –
Q	I don’t mean a written statement, I mean just telling them what you saw those individuals doing?
A	Oh, yeah, yup.
Q	You remember telling law enforcement?
A	Uh-hum.
Q	Okay, and it’s your testimony today that you recognized State’s Exhibit 3, which is Mr. Hidanovic –
A	Uh-hum.
Q	-- but you’re not really certain how he was involved, you just recognize him from being there, correct?
A	Yeah.
Q	Okay, but the other individual you – when you gave your statement to law enforcement, you did recognize from participating in a fight, correct?
A	Uh-hum.
Q	And in fact when you gave that law – the statement to law enforcement, you said, that he was the individual with the bat?
A	Yeah, it was an older man with the bat.
Q	Was it the individual you see in that picture?
A	Uh-hum, I was pretty – a hundred percent sure of it at the time.
Q	And back when you gave your statement to law enforcement, in fact you described what that individual was wearing. Do you recall what the description was?
A	Uh-hum. It was a tannish shirt, it was like a sweater.
Q	In fact in your statement, you said it was cream or tan?
A	Cream, yeah, cream tan.
Q	And did you actually see this individual produce the baseball bat?
A	Produce?
Q	Where did it come from?
A	I don’t know where it came from, but I saw it in his hands, and I saw it hit another –
Q	Do you recall what he was wearing for pants?
A	I don’t remember that. Maybe black pants, I want to say, maybe – maybe, I’m not sure.
Q	But you’re certain that you didn’t see state’s Exhibit 3, Mr. Hidanovic with the bat, correct?
A	No, I didn’t.

MR. BRANDBORG: I have nothing further, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Boening, re direct.
RE DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. BOENING:

Q	You only saw one bat, is that correct?
A	Uh-hum.
Q	Do you know for sure that there wasn’t more than one bat out there?
A	No, I do not, I do not know for sure.

MR. BOENING: Nothing further.
THE COURT: Re cross.
MR. BRANDBORG: Nothing further, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Boening, may the – this witness be excused?
MR. BOENING: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Brandborg, may this witness be excused?
MR. BRANDBORG: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Ma’am, you’re free to go, you can step down, you’re free to leave.
MS. HAAS: Okay, should I keep those there? Thank you.
THE COURT: Mr. Boening will take care of that. Thank you.
          Folks, at this point and time, it’s 10:26 in the morning, and we’re going to take a brief recess. It’ll be about ten, maybe fifteen minutes, cause you folks got an earlier recess today, so I’m kinda combining them, so we can keep the process moving.
          Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I must warn you, and do at this point and time of your duty not to converse among yourselves or the jury, I must warn you, and do at this point and time of your duty not to converse among yourselves or with anyone else on any subject connect with the trial, and you must not form or express any opinion thereon until the case is finally submitted to you. Bet you could recite that back to me pretty well by now, but in all seriousness, I must read that to you, and you should take it to heart and in all seriousness.
So what we’ll do at this point and time, is we’ll stay on the record with counsel and the Defendant. We’ll rise, excuse the jury for a morning recess.
          (Jury exits the courtroom)