3 Men Stand Trial Accused Of Committing A Hate Crime
By: Import User
Updated: January 7, 2009
Three Arkansas men are on trial in Texarkana for allegedly helping a friend burn a cross near the home of a black man in Fouke, Arkansas.
The cross burning incident took place last year, and Tuesday the three defendents faced Judge Larry Barnes in a Texarkana Federal Courtroom.
Christopher Mitchell, James Bradley Weems and Clint Wurtele all have seperate attorneys representing them in this case.
It is alleged that the three men were accomplices in helping Christopher Baird burn a cross near his neighbors yard, all because his neighbor had a house on the hill with his white girlfriend.
Reports show that Baird pled guilty to a federal charge from the incident and attorneys for the three men say that this was not a racially motivated crime.
Tuesday Prosecutors called Michael Barington to the stand. Barington has lived in Fouke since 1973, and he testified that he knew the three defendent`s. He says they all were at a party last year drinking and having a good time when he heard racial slurrs in reference to a black neighbor. He testified that after hearing someone say let`s get some wood and build a cross, he left the party because he didn`t want to be a part of the act.
Now Barington declined an on camera interview with KTAL Newschannel 6 at the courthouse, but stay tuned to the news station for the latest developments.
