April 16, 1999 Idaho

Aryan parade protest case ends in mistrial Jury deadlocks after talking for 3 hours

Brian Coddington - The Spokesman-Review

Coeur d'Alene _ Jonathan Crowell said he refused an officer's request to search his backpack during last summer's Aryan Nation's parade as a matter of principle: He believed the search was without cause.

Police called his refusal defiance, and arrested him for obstructing an officer trying to conduct a legal search.

A six-person jury could not agree Thursday on who was right.

First District Court Magistrate Paul McCabe declared a mistrial when jurors told him 31/2 hours of deliberation had left them hopelessly deadlocked. McCabe ordered the case rescheduled for trial but did not set a date.

``I think it's a victory,'' Crowell said outside the courtroom. ``I'm a free-walking man.''

Assistant city attorney Marty Raap said he planned to review the first trial before deciding whether to continue to pursue the misdemeanor charge. Among the things Raap said he planned to consider was how jurors responded to the evidence.

One juror, who voted to acquit Crowell, paused to praise the 24-year-old Moscow activist before leaving the courthouse.

``I just want to thank you for standing up for our rights,'' said the woman, one of three jurors who voted for acquittal.

The woman, who did not want to be identified, then walked outside to smoke a cigarette with Crowell's supporters.

Crowell claimed he was wrongly arrested when he refused to submit to a search during the Aryan Nations parade on July 18. He carried a bulging backpack when he positioned himself in the 300 block of Sherman Avenue to protest the Aryan marchers.

Dan Dixon, a police detective assigned to work a security detail in the area, confronted Crowell about the pack. Cylindrical outlines bulging from the pack, threats of violence by a few protesters and reports that explosives stolen from a Boise construction site could have been headed to Coeur d'Alene made the officer wonder whether Crowell was carrying bombs, Dixon said.

Crowell refused Dixon's repeated requests to look inside the pack, and the officer arrested him. Police later discovered the pack contained a shirt, athletic shoes and Crowell's lunch -- a loaf of bread and jars of peanut butter, jelly and apple sauce.

Larry Hildes, a Berkeley, Calif., defense attorney representing Crowell free of charge, said Crowell's arrest was part of an organized attempt by police to manage the crowd by removing protesters.

He accused Dixon of following a blanket department policy to search all bags and protesters during the parade.

Hildes told jurors Crowell did nothing to justify Dixon's suspicion. The officer trampled on Crowell's protection against unreasonable search because no wires, electrical tape or other bomb-making components dangled from the protestor's pack, Hildes said.