BIRCH BURDICK

Despite not guilty verdict, prosecution stands by conspiracy charge in Fargo killing

Raju Chaduvula — Sun, 07 Oct 2018 10:00:00 GMT

FARGO - A not guilty verdict in the high-profile murder conspiracy trial of William Hoehn might lead some to wonder whether the charge he faced was the appropriate one.

But such second-guessing does not extend to the Cass County State's Attorney's Office, which stands by its original decision.

"We believe we properly charged him," said Leah Viste, one of the attorneys who prosecuted the case.

Viste said Hoehn was charged with conspiracy to commit murder because his behavior following the killing of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind - including helping cover up the crime, moving the body and lying to police - supported the prosecution's theory that a conspiracy existed prior to her death.

Other charges that could have been brought against Hoehn, such as aiding in the consummation of a crime, or accomplice after the crime, were rejected because they would have conflicted with the prosecution's position that a conspiracy started before LaFontaine-Greywind's death, Viste said.

On Sept. 28, following a nine-day trial, a 12-person jury acquitted Hoehn on the charge of conspiring to murder LaFontaine-Greywind, who was 22 and pregnant when she died in August 2017.

Following LaFontaine-Greywind's disappearance on Aug. 19, 2017, Hoehn and Brooke Crews, his co-defendant and ex-girlfriend, were each charged with conspiring to commit murder, with prosecutors asserting the aim of the plan was to cut LaFontaine-Greywind's baby from her womb and raise the child as their own.

LaFontaine-Greywind's body was found in the Red River on Aug. 27, 2017, eight days after she vanished from her north Fargo apartment building and three days after her healthy baby was found in Crews' possession.

In December, Crews pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping and lying to police.

While Hoehn was acquitted of conspiracy to commit murder, he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to commit kidnapping and a misdemeanor charge of lying to law enforcement. He is awaiting sentencing on those charges.

The maximum prison sentence on the conspiracy to commit kidnapping charge is 20 years. The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum penalty of 360 days in jail.

Prosecution: Cover-up, lying pointed to conspiracy

During Hoehn's trial, the prosecution tried to convey the concept of conspiracy to the jury.

In its simplest form, it is an agreement between two people to achieve an objective and at least one of the conspirators takes a step to fulfill that objective.

Prosecutors said the agreement need not be explicit but only implied.

Dan Borgen, Hoehn's attorney, maintained there was never an agreement between Hoehn and Crews, expressed or implied, prior to LaFontaine-Greywind's death.

Crews, the prosecution's prime witness, testified that she felt pressured by Hoehn to produce a baby, but she said there was never an explicit plan between them to kill LaFontaine-Greywind and cut her baby from her womb.

Other issues making things difficult for the prosecution: a medical examiner could not establish a specific time of death, or a specific cause of death.

Those factors were important in the prosecution's effort to link the timing of LaFontaine-Greywind's death to when Hoehn returned home from work the afternoon of Aug. 19, 2017, the day the victim went missing.

Hoehn and Crews' testimony differed as to what happened that day.

Conflicting stories

Crews testified Hoehn came into their apartment bathroom, uttered an expletive and asked if LaFontaine-Greywind, who was lying on the floor, was dead.

Crews said she told him, "I don't know. Please help me." At which point, she said Hoehn left and returned with a rope, tied it around LaFontaine-Greywind's neck and said, "If she wasn't dead before, she is now."

Hoehn testified he believed LaFontaine-Greywind was already dead when he entered the bathroom and that he never saw the rope around her neck until he walked into the bathroom.

Another charge Hoehn could have faced was willful disturbance of a dead body, something he admitted to during his testimony.

Viste said that charge is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of one year behind bars.

It's unlikely other charges will be brought against Hoehn, according to Viste. "I wouldn't anticipate, at this point, any additional charges stemming from what we have," she said.

Asked about his thoughts on the Hoehn case and how it was charged, Cass County State's Attorney Birch Burdick deferred questions to Viste.

Hoehn will be sentenced for conspiracy to commit kidnapping and lying to police once a pre-sentencing investigation is complete.

Viste said any information regarding the kidnapping of LaFontaine-Greywind's baby that Hoehn testified to during his trial on the conspiracy to commit murder charge will be a factor when he is sentenced.

Despite not guilty verdict, prosecution stands by conspiracy charge in Fargo killing

Leah Jo Viste makes closing arguments for the state Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018, in District Court, Fargo, during William Hoehn’s trial for conspiracy to commit murder of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a 22-year-old who’s baby was cut from her womb. Michael Vosburg / Forum Photo Editor

Brooke Crews testifies Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, in District Court, Fargo, during William Hoehn’s trial for conspiracy to commit murder of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a 22-year-old who’s baby was cut from her womb. Michael Vosburg / Forum Photo Editor

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No criminal charges for officers involved in Fargo, West Fargo shootings

Raju Chaduvula — Thu, 31 May 2018 00:49:06 GMT

FARGO - Cass County prosecutors have decided not to bring criminal charges against law enforcement officers involved in separate shootings of Justin Dietrich and Orlando Estrada.

Dietrich was fatally shot March 12 during a standoff with SWAT team members in a West Fargo neighborhood.

According to a memo released Wednesday, May 30, by the Cass County State's Attorney's Office, Dietrich refused to comply with officers' commands to peacefully exit his pickup truck. Dietrich made several comments about how he was not going to jail alive and told officers, "If I come out of this vehicle, I'm taking one of you with me," the memo stated.

Dietrich got out of his vehicle at about 10:30 p.m. March 12 and dropped a handgun before picking it up and pulling another gun out of his pants, the memo said. He first raised the guns to about shoulder height and then lowered them to waist level, pointing them in the direction of the officers, at which time four officers shot Dietrich, the memo said.

"Dietrich's behavior put the officers in a predicament," Cass County State's Attorney Birch Burdick said. Since Dietrich's behavior was erratic and the incident was taking place in a residential area, he posed a public safety risk, Burdick said.

An autopsy showed that Dietrich was shot 10 times, and his blood tested positive for amphetamine, methamphetamine and alcohol, the memo stated.

The four SWAT team members who shot at Dietrich were Fargo police Sgts. Shane Aberle and Troy Hannig, Moorhead police Officer Brandon Desautel and Clay County Deputy Kyle Diekmann.

Fargo Police Chief David Todd said an internal investigation of the two Fargo officers' conduct was completed and found that both followed protocol and training. They have returned to duty and completed a psychological evaluation, Todd said.

Moorhead Police Chief David Ebinger said their internal investigation is still underway.

Diekmann has been cleared by the Clay County Sheriff's Office since he didn't violate any policy, Chief Deputy Stephen Landsem said.

The second shooting, which resulted in no criminal charges against police, occurred March 21 when officers responded to a south Fargo apartment for a domestic disturbance.

Burdick said Estrada was violating a court order by being at the apartment and officers could see two men, later identified as Estrada's brother and father, fighting with Estrada. Officers were able to get a woman, who lived at the apartment, and her 5-year-old son outside into the hallway.

After repeatedly being asked to come out of the apartment, Estrada opened the door with a large knife held above his shoulder and made stabbing motions with the knife toward an officer, according to the Cass County State's Attorney's Office. At that point, Fargo Officer Jacob Rued fired two shots through the door as Estrada was closing it.

Estrada was wounded but survived the shooting. Medical records showed that he had amphetamines and marijuana in his system, along with a blood alcohol level of 0.17 percent, according to the State's Attorney's Office.

Todd said an internal investigation into Rued's shooting found that he used appropriate force. Rued completed a psychological evaluation and is back on duty, the chief said.

Estrada is being held in Cass County Jail on charges of attempted aggravated assault against law enforcement, terrorizing and violating a no-contact order.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has a felony dispositional conference set for July 26.

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Forum journalist subpoenaed, questioned as witness in deadly downtown Fargo fight

Tu-Uyen Tran / Forum News Service — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 02:19:10 GMT

FARGO - A Forum journalist who covered a deadly fist fight downtown earlier this year had his notes and recordings subpoenaed by Cass County prosecutors and was questioned by a police investigator and a private detective working for the accused.

Archie Ingersoll, who has since been promoted to news editor, was the reporter on duty the night of May 27. After hearing police calls over a scanner concerning a fight about a block from The Forum, he ran outside and said he saw Darren Patterson strike two other men outside the HoDo Restaurant and Lounge. One of the men, Jamie Grant, later died after hitting his head on the pavement, and Patterson has been charged with manslaughter.

On Tuesday, Oct. 24, Ingersoll and The Forum received a subpoena from the Cass County State's Attorney's Office for notes and recordings he used while covering the event. Prosecutors also requested he submit to questioning about what he saw.

Journalists typically tread carefully when it comes to cooperating with the government because they are government watchdogs and want to remain independent. They also fear revealing sources to whom they've promised confidentiality.

But Ingersoll and Forum Editor Matthew Von Pinnon agreed that the situation they face here doesn't violate these long-held stances.

"We rarely get subpoenaed for information gained while gathering the news," Von Pinnon said in a statement. "Typically, we resist such efforts so the public and our sources confidently know we operate independently. For instance, we may interview people suspected of crimes and they may talk to us instead of talking to the police or prosecutors because we are neutral. We want to maintain that neutrality, that independence."

"But in this unusual case, where a reporter actually witnessed the event, we didn't want to obstruct the fact-finding process, either," he said.

Von Pinnon said The Forum had consulted with longtime media attorney Jack McDonald and Kathleen Culver, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center for Journalism Ethics.

Cass County State's Attorney Birch Burdick said he understands if journalists are conducting investigations and have sources they wish to protect, but in Ingersoll's case, there are no such sources. Ingersoll, he said, was simply a witness and attorneys on both sides wanted to talk to him to make sure they didn't miss anything.

Ingersoll had earlier written a first-person story providing a blow-by-blow account of the fight as he saw it, which The Forum published June 10. Photos and edited video he took with his cellphone in the aftermath of the fight were also published earlier in his reporting.

Nevertheless, attorneys and police wanted to know more.

Ingersoll was interviewed for nearly two hours Wednesday, Oct. 25, by prosecutor Ryan Younggren, police Detective Mark Voigtschild, and Chuck Anderson, a private investigator hired by Patterson's defense attorney.

Von Pinnon said The Forum insisted that both the prosecution and defense be present for the same interview to demonstrate the newspaper's independence.

Most of the questions involved clarifying the events depicted in Ingersoll's first-person story, according to Ingersoll. Attorney McDonald was present and interjected when interviewers wanted Ingersoll to speculate or to report what he's learned since his initial reporting.

Ingersoll also provided a dozen computer files, four photos and 6 minutes of video, all taken while emergency responders tended to Grant. The reporter had seen the fight from a block away at The Forum building and didn't start recording until he arrived on the scene. There were also two audio files, one with just background noise and one with an interview with police Sgt. Mike Sanden.

Asked if Ingersoll would ever be called to testify, Younggren said that's possible, though most cases are settled before going to trial.

Ingersoll said it's unusual for reporters to share notes or submit to police questioning because "we aren't their investigative arm." But he said his situation is unique because he was a witness to an incident on a public street rather than acting as an investigative reporter with sources to protect.

This is not the first time Ingersoll has been subpoenaed. In 2010, while working for the Grand Forks Herald, he interviewed Rodney Chisholm in jail. The Manvel man admitted to Ingersoll he had killed his brother Donald but claimed self-defense, the same thing he told investigators. But prosecutors subpoenaed Ingersoll, presumably to gather information, though they ultimately didn't interview him.

Burdick said his office has never asked a journalist to submit to questioning in his 20-year career. But Younggren said he has subpoenaed journalists before to obtain photos or videos because journalists are occasionally on the scene before law enforcement and may be the only ones there with recording equipment.

Forum journalist subpoenaed, questioned as witness in deadly downtown Fargo fight

Darren Patterson

Jamie Grant

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Convicted double murderer Ashley Hunter to be sentenced in Fargo

Wendy Reuer — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 03:56:07 GMT

FARGO-Convicted murderer Ashley Hunter will hear his punishment this week for killing Clarence Flowers and Samuel Traut in June 2015.

Hunter was convicted June 2 of two counts murder and one count of arson after a two-week trial in Cass County District Court.

The murder charges, Class AA felonies, are each punishable by life in prison without the possibility of parole. The Class B arson felony is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Hunter is scheduled to appear for sentencing at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5, before Judge Norman Anderson in Cass County District Court.

Hunter's attorney, Samuel Gereszek, insisted during the trial that prosecutors had a weak case and suggested two other people may have been responsible for the deaths.

The murders took place over over the span of several hours on June 22 and 23, 2015. During the trial, prosecutors said Flowers was stabbed 77 times in his Fargo apartment over what Hunter perceived as slights, including Flowers' attempting to pursue Hunter's female friends.

Several hours later, Hunter then killed Traut with several blows to the back of the head, after Hunter showed up at Traut's back door and asked for a glass of water.

Cass County State's Attorney Birch Burdick strongly suggested Hunter's meth use fueled the crimes and presented videos of Hunter essentially confessing to police the morning after his 2015 arrest.

In closing arguments, Burdick linked physical evidence to details Hunter revealed in his statement to police. He said the murder of Flowers was personal to Hunter, while the murder of Traut was due to paranoia, Hunter thought Traut was going to call police to turn him in.

A jury took only a few hours to find Hunter guilty of all counts.

Gereszek filed letters with the court written by Hunter that said local media, his race and "lack of status in the community" prevented him from having a fair trial.

Convicted double murderer Ashley Hunter to be sentenced in Fargo

File photo of Ashley Hunter in Cass County District Court on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016. David Samson / Forum News Service

Ashley Hunter pleaded not guilty Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016, to felony charges of theft and criminal trespass. Hunter is accused of stealing a truck a month before he was accused of killing two people in north Fargo last summer.David Samson / The Forum

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Victims' families share thoughts after jury finds Hunter guilty of double murder in Fargo

David Olson — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 01:41:48 GMT

FARGO - Shortly after a jury found Ashley Hunter guilty of murdering Clarence Flowers and Samuel Traut in June 2015, Traut's mother, MaryAnn, remembered her son Samuel this way: "He was about God and others."

Traut was joined by her husband, Lloyd, in thanking law enforcement, court workers and others who helped convict Hunter of two counts of murder and one count of arson Friday afternoon, June 2, in Cass County District Court.

"It means justice was served, it was a long two years for us," Lloyd Traut said.

Carolyn Conner, the mother of Clarence Flowers, said the verdicts were an important moment for her, too.

"This case has brought about a lot of emotions," she said, adding that she and the Traut family have formed a friendship and that they have helped each other through a very difficult period.

The jury deliberated just a few hours before handing down the verdicts. The two murder charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole. Hunter will be sentenced at a future date.

During closing arguments Friday, Cass County State's Attorney Birch Burdick opened his remarks this way: "When you live life in a meth-induced haze, reason is hard to come by - chaos, destruction and death is the norm."

Hunter's attorney, Samuel Gereszek, insisted in his closing argument that the state's case against Hunter could not hold up under scrutiny, and he suggested two other people may have been responsible for the deaths of Flowers and Traut in June 2015.

During the two-week trial, the state presented evidence that Flowers was stabbed 77 times, while Traut was killed by hammer blows to his head.

The prosecution's case suggested strongly that both murders were fueled by drug use, and a video of a statement Hunter gave to police shortly after his arrest the morning of June 23, 2015, reinforced that suggestion, with Hunter essentially confessing to both murders.

Gereszek challenged that conclusion, suggesting that Hunter confessed to murders he didn't commit to cover for Megan Wartman, a woman Hunter was friends with and who Gereszek suggested killed Flowers because he had sexually assaulted her.

Wartman testified during the trial that she saw Hunter kill Flowers with a knife and that Hunter then took her hostage.

When it came to Traut's death, Gereszek suggested he may have been killed by a neighbor, Christopher Doss, who testified during the trial that Hunter and Wartman showed up at his house and did drugs with him in the evening following Flowers' murder on June 22.

Doss testified that he had only just met Hunter and that he asked him to leave his home the night of June 22 after watching a news broadcast and learning Hunter was wanted in Flowers' death.

During his closing statements, Burdick focused on linking physical evidence to details Hunter revealed in his statement to police.

Burdick quoted Hunter's descriptions and motives for the crimes, stating that Hunter said the killing of Flowers was personal because of the way Flowers would pursue Hunter's female friends.

Burdick quoted Hunter as saying the reason he killed Traut was because he was "completely paranoid" and thought Traut was going to call police to turn him in.

Stating that a jigsaw puzzle of the Eiffel Tower would be recognizable even with some pieces missing, Burdick told the jury, "You know what this picture's all about, find him guilty."

After the guilty verdicts were announced, Burdick said he was pleased with the decisions, stating he felt the jury analyzed the case "the way we saw it."

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