Judge Sets Trial Date in 1983 Cross-Burning Case

White supremacist Tom Metzger and three others exhausted their options Friday for avoiding a trial in a 1983 cross-burning case that has been bogged down in appeals.

Superior Court Judge J. D. Smith ordered the defendants to stand trial July 12, 7 1/2 years after three crosses were doused with kerosene and set ablaze on private property in Kagel Canyon in the Lake View Terrace area. Two defense attorneys earlier Friday asked for continuances in order to send for two defense witnesses serving terms in federal prison in Illinois and Georgia. Judge Paul Flynn denied the motions.

“It seems to me that since you’ve been involved in the case as long as you have . . . the problems with the two witnesses . . . could have been handled well before this date,” Flynn told attorney Kevin Avery.