2 of 4 Counts Dismissed in Cross-Burning Incident

A judge Friday reluctantly dismissed two of four charges against five white supremacists accused of a 1983 illegal cross-burning, calling the ceremony a “despicable display of bigotry.”

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Judith Chirlin ruled there was insufficient evidence to sustain a felony charge that the defendants conspired to violate a Municipal Code section that prohibits burning waste materials without a permit.

She also found there was insufficient evidence to sustain a misdemeanor charge accusing the five of actually burning waste materials without a permit.

The defendants include Tom Metzger, a former California grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan who was the Democratic Party’s losing candidate for a San Diego congressional seat in 1980.

In another ruling, the judge refused to dismiss a charge of misdemeanor unlawful assembly against the five, as well as a felony count of illegal possession of a billy club against one of the defendants, Stanley Witek, founder of the National Socialist Aryan Workers Party.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Dale Davidson said the defendants conducted an illegal triple cross-burning ceremony in a predominantly black area outside a Lakeview Terrace home in the San Fernando Valley in December, 1983.

‘Conduct Despicable’

“The conduct underlying the charges is despicable,” the judge said before her rulings. “(But) a judge is not entitled to rule based upon moral outrage or displeasure.”

Defense attorneys have argued that the burning of the crosses was merely a private gathering in honor of a white Los Angeles police officer slain by a black man.

The defendants, who also include Brad Kelly, Erich Schmidt and Winston Burbage, say they are being persecuted because of their political beliefs. Further proceedings on the remaining misdemeanor charges were set for Tuesday in Municipal Court.