9 Plead Not Guilty in 1983 Cross-Burning Case

Nine members of white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges stemming from a 1983 cross burning in Lake View Terrace. Charges against four other men were dropped because they are already serving lengthy prison terms for crimes as serious as murder.

The court appearance Thursday was marked by a brief fight outside Los Angeles County Municipal Court when defendants exchanged blows and racial insults with about 20 members of the Jewish Defense League. Several sheriff’s deputies quickly broke up the fight, and there were no injuries.

Those pleading not guilty included Tom Metzger, 47, a leader of the Ku Klux Klan in California who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1980, and Richard Butler, 68, founder of Aryan Nations Church.

Charges Dismissed Once

The nine defendants are using the same legal maneuver they used two years ago when charges in the same incident were dismissed, said Robert B. Horner, assistant city attorney. A judge dismissed the case after defense attorneys argued that the city attorney’s office had not shown proper cause for bringing the defendants to trial. Prosecutors appealed to a higher court where the defense complaint was ruled legally sufficient.

Horner said he expects the defendants to ask that the charges, all misdemeanors, be tried as felonies in Superior Court where they would probably have a better chance of being dismissed. Defense attorneys indicated that they will file motions to transfer the charges, although an arrangement to settle the case could be made with prosecutors in coming weeks.

Judge Rose Hom ordered the nine men to return to court June 12 for setting of a trial date.

Three Crosses Burned

The incident occurred in December, 1983, when Los Angeles police arrested a group of men for burning three tall crosses near Kagel Canyon. The men said the crosses were burned in memory of a police officer who had been shot and killed by a black man.

Among those arrested were Randall P. Evans, 30, of Los Angeles, who is serving a 40-year sentence for federal racketeering; Thomas Bentley, 57, of Idaho, who is serving a 7 1/2-year term for conspiracy for attempting to formulate a white supremacist revolution; David Tate, 23, who is serving a life sentence for killing a Missouri state trooper, and Frank Silva, 27, of Los Angeles, who was sentenced along with Evans on charges including conspiracy in the murder of Denver talk-show host Alan Berg.

The charges against the four men were dismissed “because it seemed kind of foolish to press misdemeanors against these kind of men,” Horner said. The charges, including unlawful assembly and setting a hazardous fire, each carry a maximum sentence of one year in County Jail.

Others pleading not guilty Thursday were Gene Loven, 36, of Hollywood; Brad Kelly, 25, of Monrovia; Winston Burbage, 26, of Lemon Grove; Erich Schmidt, 22, of Glendale; Irvin Alcorn, 32, of San Bernardino; Stanley Witek, 51, of Los Angeles, and Thomas Miner, 41, who owns the Lake View Terrace house where the cross burning occurred.