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Kurtis Monschke has a huge swastika tattooed on his chest, a German war eagle on his shoulder and several other hate symbols on his arms and legs.
Before he went to jail to await trial for murder, the slight, blond teen kept his head shaved, owned a copy of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and decorated his Tacoma apartment in Nazi symbols. He passed out hate literature in his South End apartment complex, tried to recruit neighbors to his cause and watched a violent racial killing in the 1998 movie "American History X" again and again, Pierce County prosecutors say.
When jurors hear all that in his trial next month, they're going to hate him and unfairly convi
t him, Monschke's attorneys fear.
"When we inflame the passion and prejudice of the jury with hate symbols, people stop feeling rational about the case," said attorney Jay Berneburg
.<b
>
Prosecutors say Monschke, now 20, was an integral part o
f a killing that happened because of his beliefs and how he thought the crime could raise his status in the white supremacist movement.
"We are trying to present a fair and accurate picture of someone who is part of this movement and as part of his beliefs, he murdered an inferior," deputy prosecutor Greg Greer told the judge.
Prosecutors allege Monschke and three friends murdered Randall Townsend, a 42-year-old homeless man, for two reasons: Monschke, David Pillatos and Scotty Butters wanted Pillatos' girlfriend, Tristain Frye, to earn the right to wear red shoelaces by beating someone, and to prove to the supremacist community they "walk the walk" in a culture that often advocates violence
.
Superior Court Judge Lisa Worswick said that when the trial starts in early May, prosecutors can try to prove Monschke had the opportunity and bias to commit the crime and that his
beli
efs
were part o
f the history of the crime.
"I realize there are some prejudicial aspects of the test
imony that will be presented," Worswick said after hearing lawyers argue about the issue over three days last week. But, she said, it's a revealing point that outweighs the prejudice.
But Worswick said she doesn't want the state to overwhelm jurors with inflammatory details. She said attorneys can't mention the "Whites only" tattoo on Monschke's penis, argue that he has called the "Diary of Anne Frank" a fraud or that he covered his jail cell with racist graffiti.
The beating of a white man
Prosecutors say Monschke, Pillatos, Butters and Frye bought baseball bats and went out looking for a black drug dealer to beat up early
March 23, 2003. Under Tacoma's East 26th Street bridge, they approached a black man who scared them off with a machete.
Then, while Monschke was further down the railroa
d tracks
, Frye,
Butters and Pilla
tos attacked Townsend. Even though he was white, they picked him because they thought he was a drug addict.
They beat him with a bat, kicked hi
s head and dropped a boulder on his face. Prosecutors say Butters and Pillatos then put his mouth on the railroad tracks and stomped on the back of his head, an act that since the movie "American History X" has become a sign of a supremacist attack.
Afterward, prosecutors allege, Monschke joined them, and after seeing Townsend was still breathing, beat him in the face with a baseball bat. Prosecutors say Monschke later said, "I wonder if God gives brownie points for this."
Defense attorneys say the attack from the movie never happened and that Monschke didn't join the group until after the other
men had fatally injured Towns-end.
Pillatos, Butters and Frye made deals with prosecutors, pleading guilty to reduced charges and each agreeing to testify against
the others.
Monschke rejected the pr
osecution's offer and will go to trial charged with the state's worst crime, aggravated first-degree murder.
The only possible punishment if he's convicted is life in prison, with
no chance of release.
To prove aggravated murder, prosecutors must show something made the crime worse than most killings. Prosecutors say that in this case, Monschke took part in the attack to raise his position in an identifiable group - white supremacists.
To make their case, Greer and chief criminal deputy prosecutor Jerry Costello said they'll have to teach jurors what supremacist groups believe and convince them that Monschke was part of the group and wanted to advance.
White supremacists believe the white race is at risk because of a "rising
tide of color" masterminded by Jewish people, and they share a hatred of J*ws, racial and ethnic minorities, gays, drug addicts and others, prosecutors say
.
Gre
er said he know
s Monschke's Nazi tattoos, bo
oks and fliers will prejudice jurors against him.
"Everything we would ever offer in any criminal case is meant to be prejudicial, but in the right sense of the word," he said. "We're not trying to unfairly color the de
fendant. We're trying to portray this."
Constitution protects ideology
Defense attorneys don't defend Monschke's views - just his right to have them.
"White supremacy is an idea," defense attorney Erik Bauer said. "It's a thought. It's a political idea, like a Democrat or a Republican. It's an ideology of losers."
But not all supremacists believe the same things to the same degree, he contended.
For instance, Bauer said, the only organiz
ation Monschke was a member of professed nonviolence, and, since the crime, has disowned him and advocated a death sentence for anyone who killed Tow
nsend.
Pr
osecutors are tryin
g to fit the killing of a white man into
the philosophy of groups that exist to protect white men, Bauer and Berneburg said.
"Mr. Townsend," Bauer pointed out, "was a white guy."
Supremacists earn red laces by beating up minorities, the lawyers said.
The theory that the youths beat up Townsend because they thought he had a drug problem
doesn't make sense, either, they say, because the four had drug problems themselves.
Rather than a killer, defense attorneys say, Monschke is a disaffected street kid who found rebellion, protection and a sense of family in white supremacist groups while growing up in juvenile detention.
His views, protected by the Constitution, shouldn't be used against him, they say.
"What it amounts to,&quo
t; Berne-burg said, "is that anybody who has a constitutionally protected belief and they're charged with a crime, the governmen
t will try to enhance th
eir sentence by bringin
g up their past constitutionally protected belie
fs."
http://www.tribnet.com/news/local/story/50...p-4935425c.html
Kurtis Monschke has a huge swastika tattooed on his chest, a German war eagle on his shoulder and several other hate symbols on his arms and legs.
Before he went to jail to await trial for murder, the slight, blond teen kept his head shaved, owned a copy of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and decorated his Tacoma apartment in Nazi symbols. He passed out hate literature in his South End apartment complex, tried to recruit neighbors to his cause and watched a violent racial killing in the 1998 movie "American History X" again and again, Pierce County prosecutors say.
When jurors hear all that in his trial next month, they're going to hate him and unfairly convi
t him, Monschke's attorneys fear.
"When we inflame the passion and prejudice of the jury with hate symbols, people stop feeling rational about the case," said attorney Jay Berneburg
.<b
>
Prosecutors say Monschke, now 20, was an integral part o
f a killing that happened because of his beliefs and how he thought the crime could raise his status in the white supremacist movement.
"We are trying to present a fair and accurate picture of someone who is part of this movement and as part of his beliefs, he murdered an inferior," deputy prosecutor Greg Greer told the judge.
Prosecutors allege Monschke and three friends murdered Randall Townsend, a 42-year-old homeless man, for two reasons: Monschke, David Pillatos and Scotty Butters wanted Pillatos' girlfriend, Tristain Frye, to earn the right to wear red shoelaces by beating someone, and to prove to the supremacist community they "walk the walk" in a culture that often advocates violence
.
Superior Court Judge Lisa Worswick said that when the trial starts in early May, prosecutors can try to prove Monschke had the opportunity and bias to commit the crime and that his
beli
efs
were part o
f the history of the crime.
"I realize there are some prejudicial aspects of the test
imony that will be presented," Worswick said after hearing lawyers argue about the issue over three days last week. But, she said, it's a revealing point that outweighs the prejudice.
But Worswick said she doesn't want the state to overwhelm jurors with inflammatory details. She said attorneys can't mention the "Whites only" tattoo on Monschke's penis, argue that he has called the "Diary of Anne Frank" a fraud or that he covered his jail cell with racist graffiti.
The beating of a white man
Prosecutors say Monschke, Pillatos, Butters and Frye bought baseball bats and went out looking for a black drug dealer to beat up early
March 23, 2003. Under Tacoma's East 26th Street bridge, they approached a black man who scared them off with a machete.
Then, while Monschke was further down the railroa
d tracks
, Frye,
Butters and Pilla
tos attacked Townsend. Even though he was white, they picked him because they thought he was a drug addict.
They beat him with a bat, kicked hi
s head and dropped a boulder on his face. Prosecutors say Butters and Pillatos then put his mouth on the railroad tracks and stomped on the back of his head, an act that since the movie "American History X" has become a sign of a supremacist attack.
Afterward, prosecutors allege, Monschke joined them, and after seeing Townsend was still breathing, beat him in the face with a baseball bat. Prosecutors say Monschke later said, "I wonder if God gives brownie points for this."
Defense attorneys say the attack from the movie never happened and that Monschke didn't join the group until after the other
men had fatally injured Towns-end.
Pillatos, Butters and Frye made deals with prosecutors, pleading guilty to reduced charges and each agreeing to testify against
the others.
Monschke rejected the pr
osecution's offer and will go to trial charged with the state's worst crime, aggravated first-degree murder.
The only possible punishment if he's convicted is life in prison, with
no chance of release.
To prove aggravated murder, prosecutors must show something made the crime worse than most killings. Prosecutors say that in this case, Monschke took part in the attack to raise his position in an identifiable group - white supremacists.
To make their case, Greer and chief criminal deputy prosecutor Jerry Costello said they'll have to teach jurors what supremacist groups believe and convince them that Monschke was part of the group and wanted to advance.
White supremacists believe the white race is at risk because of a "rising
tide of color" masterminded by Jewish people, and they share a hatred of J*ws, racial and ethnic minorities, gays, drug addicts and others, prosecutors say
.
Gre
er said he know
s Monschke's Nazi tattoos, bo
oks and fliers will prejudice jurors against him.
"Everything we would ever offer in any criminal case is meant to be prejudicial, but in the right sense of the word," he said. "We're not trying to unfairly color the de
fendant. We're trying to portray this."
Constitution protects ideology
Defense attorneys don't defend Monschke's views - just his right to have them.
"White supremacy is an idea," defense attorney Erik Bauer said. "It's a thought. It's a political idea, like a Democrat or a Republican. It's an ideology of losers."
But not all supremacists believe the same things to the same degree, he contended.
For instance, Bauer said, the only organiz
ation Monschke was a member of professed nonviolence, and, since the crime, has disowned him and advocated a death sentence for anyone who killed Tow
nsend.
Pr
osecutors are tryin
g to fit the killing of a white man into
the philosophy of groups that exist to protect white men, Bauer and Berneburg said.
"Mr. Townsend," Bauer pointed out, "was a white guy."
Supremacists earn red laces by beating up minorities, the lawyers said.
The theory that the youths beat up Townsend because they thought he had a drug problem
doesn't make sense, either, they say, because the four had drug problems themselves.
Rather than a killer, defense attorneys say, Monschke is a disaffected street kid who found rebellion, protection and a sense of family in white supremacist groups while growing up in juvenile detention.
His views, protected by the Constitution, shouldn't be used against him, they say.
"What it amounts to,&quo
t; Berne-burg said, "is that anybody who has a constitutionally protected belief and they're charged with a crime, the governmen
t will try to enhance th
eir sentence by bringin
g up their past constitutionally protected belie
fs."
http://www.tribnet.com/news/local/story/50...p-4935425c.html
