'He was Black & had a violent history.' Atty Hopes an All Neuropeon Jury Will Understand Why White Supremacists Chased Down & Intentionally Ran Over Fleeing Teenager in Murder Case
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From [HERE] The defense team for a white man accused of fatally driving into an African-American teenager out of racial hatred filed a motion this week -- in an attempt to drastically change the course of the case.
Lawyers for murder defendant Russell Courtier are asking a judge to consider the victim's criminal history when deciding what evidence to let a jury hear.
Prosecutors say that Courtier, 38, was motivated by racism when he intentionally hit 19-year-old Larnell Bruce Jr. with his Jeep outside a Gresham 7-Eleven store in August 2016. But defense attorney Kevin Sali argues in this week's motion that Bruce is the one who started the confrontation by picking a fight with Courtier -- and Bruce's history of 16 convictions is proof of his propensity toward violence.
Courtier's lawyers are hoping to undermine a prosecution contention that has drawn national media attention and nationwide outrage against their client: That Courtier, a white supremacist, killed Bruce because he hates African Americans. If defense attorneys are allowed to present Bruce's criminal history to a jury, it could help their argument that Courtier was responding to a fight started by Bruce -- and not deeply held white supremacist beliefs.
Self defense as he fled?? White reporters should be ashamed to even report this story.
Courtier's trial is scheduled for September, in the courtroom of Multnomah County Circuit Judge Jerry Hodson.
In support of Wednesday's motion, Courtier's defense attorneys dug up 316 pages of police reports and court documents outlining Bruce's past.
According to the documents, Bruce was first convicted at age 14, when he tussled over a classmate's skateboard, then pummeled the boy so badly he suffered a broken eye socket and cheekbone.
That same year, Bruce also was convicted of grabbing the breast of a girl who attended his Vancouver middle school.
When Bruce was 15 and punched another person, a judge wrote that Bruce "has shown through his behavior that his conduct poses a risk to society" and his parents and the court system haven't been able to control him.
Investigators do not believe that the suspects and Bruce knew each other before the incident. Bruce obviously was unaware of the teen's history at the time of the incident so .... but maybe an all Neuropeon jury will see & hear only with their minds. [MORE] Dr. Blynd explains:
Neuropeons - neurotic, stupid and self deluded poor white trash. 2) skin heads 3) Nazis, neo-Nazis and Theo-nazis (See KKK, WOTAN, Weitko Disease, Fasxism, Racism White Supremacy, Stupidity, Ku Klux Klan & Yurungu).
Courtier, a white man with a lengthy criminal history, is associated with a white supremacist prison gang known for violent activities both on the streets and behind bars. The Southern Poverty Law Center called the European Kindred “the most feared white supremacist gang in the Pacific Northwest.” The Oregon Department of Justice considers the gang a security threat group operating in the state’s prison system.
Police Det. Aaron Turnage responded to a call about a car crash Aug. 10 outside a 7-Eleven in Gresham, east of Portland. Surveillance video showed Courtier and Bruce getting into a fight in the parking lot, according to an affidavit of probable cause. At some point, Bruce pulled out a machete before walking away.
Courtier then hopped into his red Jeep Wrangler and drove toward Bruce, following him as the teen ran into oncoming traffic, then onto a sidewalk, the affidavit said.
“Get him baby, get him baby,” Hunt, sitting in the passenger seat, told Courtier as he drove, according to the affidavit.
Witnesses told police that Courtier narrowly missed striking Bruce with the vehicle. But he circled around and chased the teen again, according to the affidavit.
In an interview with detectives, Courtier admitted that he intentionally struck Bruce and that he heard the impact when the teen hit the front of his Jeep, the affidavit said.
Hunt also admitted encouraging her boyfriend to run the teen over.
Bruce, who suffered a traumatic brain injury, died at an area hospital three days later.
Before his arrest, Courtier had been in and out of the Oregon Department of Corrections since 2001 for assault and weapon charges, said Betty Bernt, a spokeswoman for the agency. Courtier was released in January 2015.
Disciplinary records obtained by the Portland Mercury paint a long history of fights, assaults and contraband violations.
The records also indicate that Courtier identified as a member of the European Kindred. At one point, he was caught in prison with a drawing of the group’s logo, a shield with the letters “EK” on it. Later, he was disciplined for getting the logo tattooed on his calf.
In 2005, he was again disciplined after prison staff intercepted a letter he sent to another European Kindred member in prison.
According to the Oregon Department of Justice, the European Kindred is one of a few white supremacist groups that operate within the state’s prison system. Other include the Supreme White Aryan Knights and Aryan Soldiers, according to a 2006 report by the agency.
European Kindred was founded in prison in 1998. David Kennedy, a known white supremacist, organized the gang when he was serving time for burglary in the Snake River Correctional Institute in Ontario, Ore., according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The group has at least 300 members in prison and about 125 on the streets of Portland and surrounding cities and towns, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Chapters exist within prisons in Arizona, California, Colorado and New Mexico.
In the years since its founding, the group “became notorious as members committed hate crimes, murders, rapes and home-invasion robberies, along with manning identity theft, methamphetamine distribution and dog-fighting rings,” according to a 2010 Southern Poverty Law Center article.
In 2010, Kennedy, of Portland, was sentenced to 90 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to knowingly providing a firearm to a convicted felon, according to the FBI. [MORE]
