Trial Transcripts

Defense Witness #4: Mevludin Hidanovic

THE COURT: And so for the purposes of the record, we’ll have the Defendant place the headphones on. He has a pocket as it were, headphones and radio on, of course close circuit to the interpreter. And so we’ll have interpretation done, he’ll have one headphone on, and one of the headphones will be off on the other ear, so he can hear English as well. Any problems what so ever, Mr. Defendant and Mr. Brandborg, Mr. Boening, you folks let the Court know. You may proceed Mr. Brandborg.
MR BRANDBORG: Thank you, Your Honor.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. BRANDBORG:

Q	Good afternoon, Mr. Hidanovic.
A	(Indiscernible).
Q	Can you hear me and the translator?
A	Yeah.
Q	Could you please state your full name for the record?
A	Mevludin Hidanovic.
Q	Can you spell that?
A	My first name is M-e-v-l-u-d-i-n, my last name is H-i-d-a-n-o-v-i-c.
Q	Mr. Hidanovic, where do you live?
A	South Fargo.
Q	Do you live with your wife?
A	Yes.
Q	And what’s her name?
A	Chanda Hidanovic.
Q	When were you married?
A	September of ’06.
Q	They generally like you to remember that date.
A	September 8th.
Q	Okay. Mr. Hidanovic, I’ve talked to you a little bit about testifying today, haven’t I?
A	Yeah.
Q	And what did I tell you to do?
A	To talk to the jury.
Q	Talk to the jury, but did I tell you to tell the truth?
A	Yes.
Q	Was I very – did I emphasize that fact, that I wanted you to tell the truth?

MR. BOENING: Objection, leading.
THE COURT: Objection sustained, you may proceed Mr. Brandborg.

Q	(BY MR. BRANDBORG) Mr. Hidanovic, before we get into the facts of this case, you were present here when Ms. Tecola Sparks testified, weren’t you?
A	Yes.
Q	And you along with the rest of us heard her talk about another Bosnian being in the hallway yesterday?
A	Yes.
Q	And who was that Bosnian she said was in the hallway?
A	She said that it was Sinan Suljic.
Q	And I think she indicated that you were taller than him?
A	Yeah.
Q	Was in fact Sinan –
A	Sinan Suljic is taller and bigger than me, a lot.
Q	A lot taller and bigger?
A	Yeah.
Q	Could you estimate how much?
A	He’s at least two to three inches taller, and he’s probably forty pounds.
Q	He’s a big guy?
A	Big, yeah.
Q	Was he here in the courtroom yesterday?
A	No.
Q	I’m sorry, in the courthouse yesterday?
A	No.
Q	So Ms. Sparks was mistaken?
A	Yes.
Q	Mr. Hidanovic, let’s go back to last summer at the Cass County Fair, you’ve been here with me the whole time. On the 24th of June there was an incident out at the fair?
A	Yeah
Q	Were you out at the fair that day?
A	Yeah.
Q	Could you tell the jury a little bit about how you started that day?
A	My cousin had a picnic at the Lindenwood Park, we went there and our kids asked us to go to the fair. And it was raining, and we told them, if the rain stopped – can I  get water please?

MR. BRANDBORG: Your Honor, may I bring him some water?
THE COURT: You may, pour a glass of water for the Defendant, and may provide that to the Defendant. Thank you, Mr. Brandborg.

A	And then after the picnic the rain stopped, and we put them in the car, and we got to the fair. We had bought them some tickets for the ride, we had thought it was gonna rain again. And they went and used all those tickets, and then they want to go more on the rides, and we went and bought them bracelets. And then after –
Q	Let me stop you there Mr. Hidanovic. What in fact were you wearing on this day?
A	The sweater, the pants, and those shoes.
Q	Those very ones there?
A	Yeah.
Q	For the record, let it show that Mr. Hidanovic has identified Defense Exhibit 5, 6, and 7, as the shirt, pants and shoes he was wearing that day.

THE COURT: The record will reflect, you may proceed.

Q	(BY MR. BRANDBORG) Mr. Hidanovic, were the children having a good time?
A	Yes.
Q	Were they playing games?
A	They was going on the rides.
Q	On the rides – did you in fact yourself decide to go on a ride eventually?
A	Yeah.
Q	And which rid was that?
A	It was laying on your stomach and spins around, was like that they was using on summer time,  was like they’re going to top, but you’re laying on your stomach and it spins around.
Q	Did you go on this ride with anybody else?
A	Me, my wife, and my friend, Nurija Beganovic.
Q	Now, as you got on the ride, were you aware of any disturbance or anything going on at the fair?
A	No.
Q	How long did the ride last?
A	About five minutes.
Q	Now, did you have a baseball bat with you or anything at this time?
A	No.
Q	A knife?
A	No.
Q	Before the ride was over, did your friend Nurija receive a phone call?
A	Yes.
Q	And as you got off the ride, what did you do?
A	We saw people running, and he was saying that somebody’s fighting. And we were running to see what is going on, and when we got there, I didn’t see nothing. Everybody was running away, nobody was there.
Q	And this whole time you were with Mr. Beganovic?
A	Yes.
Q	And your wife was present as well?
A	Yes.
Q	Was, in fact, your brother at the fairgrounds that day?
A	I didn’t saw (sic) him.
Q	Were you concerned about him, is that why you ran to the –
A	Yes.
Q	-- to the location? Were you concerned about your family?
A	Yeah.
Q	At any time did you hit anybody?
A	No.
Q	Did you take a bat and hit anybody?
A	No.
Q	Kick anybody?
A	No.
Q	And you’re telling the jury the truth here?
A	I do.
Q	After the incident, you’re standing there, did you gather up some other children?
A	I grabbed my cousin’s kids, he was by himself and his dad was – he left him, he was running away.
Q	What’s his dad’s name?
A	Begzad Hidanovic.
Q	And he was running away?
A	Yeah.
Q	But you --
A	He called me to see what his son – and I looked for his son, and I picked up his son, and give him a ride home.
Q	Mr. Hidanovic, on any of the clothing there that you were wearing that day – other than the stain at the bottom of the cuff, are there any marks on it?
A	No.
Q	Any holes?
A	No.
Q	Are the shoes scuffed up or anything?
A	No.

MR. BRANDBORG: I have nothing further, Your Honor.
THE COURT: MR. Boening, cross examination for the State?
CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. BOENING:

Q	Sir, your friend Nurija testified that he’s known you since childhood, is that correct?
A	Yes.
Q	Both you and he were born in Bosnia, is that right?
A	Yes.
Q	Approximately how old were you when you left Bosnia?
A	I was like fourteen.
Q	How long did you live in Germany?
A	Seven years.
Q	And approximately what year did you come to the United States?
A	’99 – April ‘99
Q	Sir, you heard some of the State’s witnesses testify in this case, you heard Tecola Sparks, you heard Brandee Haas, Joanna Kjono, Sandra Belgrade, the Arpero’s, Rosa Arpero, Juan Arpero, Jose Arpero, and Lionardo Arpero. And it appears that all of them are describing a fight that took more than just three or four or five minutes. Would you agree that they’re describing something that took longer than five minutes?

MR. BRANDBORG: Your Honor, I’m going to object, it’s asking the Defendant to speculate.
THE COURT: Objection overruled, you can answer the question to the best of your ability sir.

A	Can you repeat it please?
Q	You heard the testimony of the Arpero’s, right?
A	Yes.
Q	And you heard the testimony of Joanna Kjono, correct?
A	Yeah.
Q	Tecola Sparks, right?
A	Yes.
Q	Brandee Haas?
A	Yes.
Q	And Cassandra Belgrade, right?
A	Yeah.
Q	Would you agree that each one of those individuals described this fight as taking much longer than five minutes?
A	I don’t know.
Q	You’ve had the assistance of the interpreters throughout this proceeding, so you haven’t had any difficulty in hearing what they testified to, have you?
A	No.
Q	Did you  know Rosa Arpero?
A	No.
Q	Any reason to believe that Rosa Arpero knows you?
A	I don’t know.
Q	Did you know Juan Arpero?
A	No.
Q	Did you know Lionardo Arpero?
A	No.
Q	Any reason to believe that he knows you?
A	No.
Q	Any reason to believe that Juan Arpero knows you?
A	I don’t know, maybe he saw me before at the fair.
Q	Did you know Jose Arpero?
A	No.
Q	Any reason to believe that he knows you?
A	No.
Q	Did you know Joanna Kjono?
A	No.
Q	Any reason to believe that she knows you?
A	No.
Q	Did you know Tecola Sparks?
A	No.
Q	Any reason to believe that she knows you?
A	No.
Q	Did you know Brandee Haas?
A	No.
Q	Any reason to believe that she knows you?
A	No.
Q	Did you know Cassandra Belgarde?
A	No.
Q	Any reason to believe that she knows you?
A	No.
Q	You were interviewed by Detective Kulesa by telephone, is that correct?
A	Yes.
Q	You heard Detective Kulesa testify to what you said in the telephone conversation, is that right?
A	Yes.
Q	You didn’t explain to Detective Kulesa what you explained here, did you?
A	I don’t know what –
Q	You don’t know what, sir?
A	Explained?
Q	Well, here today you’ve explained that you ran up to the location of the fight afternoon, correct?
A	Yes.
Q	But that’s not what you told Detective Kulesa when you talked with him on the phone, did you?
A	No.
Q	I think your testimony this afternoon is that, you took a relative’s child back from the scene of the fight home after this incident, correct?
A	Yeah, I found him at the fair and took him home.
Q	You didn’t explain that to Detective Kulesa, did you?
A	No.
Q	Sir, did you receive a telephone call or did your friend Nurija receive the telephone call at the fairgrounds?
A	My friend, Nurija, yeah he did.
Q	And you understood that there was a fight on the fairgrounds, is that correct?
A	Yes.
Q	What were you going to do at the fight?
A	I just went to see if it’s mine relative and see what is going on, Nurija didn’t know what is going on.
Q	So did you intend in participating in the fight?
A	No.

MR. BRANDBORG: Objection
THE COURT: Objection overruled, the answer will stand. You may proceed, Mr. Boening.

Q	(MR. BOENING) As I understand it, sir, when you got on the ride there was no indication that there were people gathering elsewhere on the fairground, is that correct?
A	Yes
Q	And so during the time that you were on the ride, something happened, and that’s why you got the phone call, correct?
A	Yes.
Q	And so then immediately after you got the phone call, you ran to the location on the fairgrounds, where apparently this confrontation was taking place, is that right?
A	Yes.
Q	Did you see any of the victims, did you see the Arperos that evening at the fairgrounds?
A	No.
Q	Did you see any law enforcement at that location at the fairgrounds?
A	No.
Q	And it’s your testimony that you gathered up a relative and then you left, is that correct?
A	Yeah.

MR. BOENING: Nothing further.
THE COURT: Re direct for the defense?
MR. BRANDBORG: I have nothing further, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Sir, you may step down and have a chair next to your counsel at counsel table. Thank you.