Cross-Burning Story to Be Omitted at Trial

One of two statements made by Gary Skillman in which he admitted knowledge of a cross-burning on the lawn of a black Westminster family will not be used at his Jan. 4 criminal trial, prosecutors said in a federal court hearing Monday in Santa Ana.

The decision by prosecutors followed claims by the defense that the statement was coerced by police. In the statement, Skillman said he watched on July 28 as friends built the cross, took it to the family’s home and set it afire.

Skillman, 23, who faces a maximum 21 years in prison and $600,000 in fines if convicted of violating the civil rights of the black homeowners, has pleaded not guilty. He has told authorities that friends who are neo-Nazi skinheads were responsible.

The incident took place at the home of Alvin Heisser, who lives in a predominantly white area of Westminster. Heisser was president of the Orange County chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People 20 years ago.

“This definitely makes it tougher for them to prove their case,” said H. Dean Steward, the federal public defender assigned to represent Skillman.

In the hearing, U.S. District Judge J. Spencer Letts castigated authorities for what he considered the poor quality of the investigation, according to Steward and Westminster Police Sgt. Harry Hoover.

At issue was a statement Hoover filed in court that changed the original account of Skillman’s arrest. Hoover’s later statement said Skillman had been arrested for possession of drugs and released before he voluntarily told Hoover that he saw the cross built and torched.

But in the police report, filed shortly after the arrest, no mention was made of Skillman’s release before he made the statements. Defense lawyer Steward claimed Hoover illegally coerced Skillman by threatening to put him in jail for three years unless he cooperated in the investigation.

“The judge seemed to get upset because of the change in the report,” Hoover said. “I had been put in charge of the (cross burning) task force and had a lot going on. I did not proofread the report before it went out. It was my error.”

At the hearing, the defense withdrew its legal challenges to another statement made by Skillman on Aug. 2, when Skillman returned voluntarily to police and told them the cross was constructed at his home using material from his garage and that he was present when it was set on fire.

Skillman has denied being a skinhead, but police seized articles bearing Nazi symbols from his garage. He has said he has friends who belong to the white supremacist movement, known for its racism and anti-Semitism.