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| 11/23 |
| 2005/9/16-17 [Reference/Law/Court] UID:39716 Activity:moderate |
9/16 Hmong hunter convicted after 3 hours of deliberations by all-white jury
http://www.wisinfo.com/postcrescent/news/archive/local_22619727.shtml
\_ It's Wisconsin. Of course it's an all-white jury.
\_ Saying your victims deserved to die won't earn you any sympathy.
And he basically admitted shooting an unarmed girl for inscrutable
reasons.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/467/5616664.html
\_ Well I applaud Vang. I have this secret wish that someone
like Vang the hero would kill off all fucking whitie KKK bigots
in the midwest. I support Vang for killing Crotteau, I hope he
rotts in hell. However I feel bad for the 2 other innocent
whities.
\- does anybody have a Vang Barrel?
\_ bad troll! no cookie!
\_ You mean, "Admitted mass murderer convicted after telling jury his
unarmed victims deserved to die for making him feel bad after he
trespassed on their land carrying a firearm". |
| 11/23 |
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| www.wisinfo.com/postcrescent/news/archive/local_22619727.shtml Chai Soua Vang reacts as he looks back to his family after testifying at his homicide trial Thursday in Hayward. Vang is charged with six counts of first-degree homicide and two counts of attempted homicide in the Nov . Speaking in Hmong, his face contorted by anguish, Vang spoke rapidly, as if he desperately needed to say much in a short time. A dozen family mem bers, three generations, pressed against the railing, getting as close a s they could, shaking and crying. As Vang continued, sounding as if giving instructions, tears welling from reddened eyes, his mother and some of the other Hmong women began weepi ng, their bodies shaking. The jurors had been excused for the day by Sawyer County Circuit Judge No rman Yackel, who told them they would hear final arguments from attorney s today. The family and friends of the six deer hunters killed and the two wounded by Vang last Nov. At one point, Vang put his hands together in what Westerners would think of as a prayerlike position, placed them against his forehead and bowed toward his mother, Sao Hang, who was sobbing. In his native Laos, this is a sign of deference to a respected elder. Jailers, visibly uncomf ortable as Vangs words and the wailing continued for several minutes, m oved closer, showing deference to the family but slowly moving Vang out of the courtroom. One Hmong woman, a supporter of the family, said outside the courtroom th at Vangs words were delivered in the manner of what she said was the mo st powerful part of a Hmong funeral. She said he was telling his childre n to be good and honest and to love each other. He said, If we dont love each other, we are like orphans, she said, d eclining to give her name. Tou Ger Xiong, a diversity consultant in Minneapolis and St. Paul, said V ang apologized to his mother for dragging the family through his arrest and trial. But he did not apologize for the actions that brought about h is arrest, Xiong said. He was telling his littl e brother to take care of the family. Outside the courthouse, one of Vangs defense attorneys, Stephen Smith, f aced a group of microphones and reporters. Smith had questioned Vang on the stand, and after Vang had been cross-examined by Atty. Peg Laut enschlager, Smith asked the final two questions that would be answered d uring the evidentiary portion of the trial. Vang had testified that he had been surrounded by the other hunters, who swore at him with racial slurs, threatening to beat him. He was animated during his testimony, answering every question quickly, f requently using hand gestures to describe his actions and pointing to ma ps to show locations. He remained steady, never varied from his detailed recollections and did not display anger or irritation under cross-exami nation. Smith asked Vang what he was thinking from the time of the first shot to the time he left the private hunting land owned by Robert Crotteau and T erry Willers. Reporters have repeatedly questioned attorneys Smith and Steven Kohn duri ng the five days of trial about their defense strategy, as prosecution e vidence was admitted without objection and most prosecution witnesses te stified with little or no cross examination. Mr Vang desired a trial so that his voice might be heard, Smith said. I think everyone saw that Mr Vang tried to be as candid as possible. Ethics policy Comment on this Story The Post-Crescent's news and online staffs uses all comments we receive f rom this feature to help improve our news report and Web pages and provi de feedback to our editors and reporters. If you also wish us to conside r publishing your comments in our newspaper and on our Web site, please fill out the required fields below. An editor will contact you for a fin al check prior to publication. Your email address*: Your city*: Your comments*: Your age*: The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires us to ask y ou the following question about your age. |
| www.startribune.com/stories/467/5616664.html contact info Last update: September 16, 2005 at 12:11 AM Vang: 3 hunters deserved to die Larry Oakes, Star Tribune September 16, 2005 VANG0916 ? In a cross-examination that may devastate Vang's claim that he was acting in self-defense, he said landowner Robert Crotteau and his 20-year-old son, Joe, deserved what they got when Vang chased them down and fatally shot each in the back, though Vang acknowledged that neither was armed. Robert Crotteau deserved to die "because he's the one who confronted me a nd called me names and that's just who he is," Vang testified, as member s of Crotteau's family appeared tearful and stunned. Joe Crotteau deserved to die " 'cause he accused me of giving him the fin ger and tried to cut in front of me," Vang said, after describing how th e younger Crotteau blocked him from leaving as his father profanely bera ted Vang for trespassing on the family's hunting land. hunters shot Chai Soua Vang Jeffrey Phelps Associated Press After jurors had left the courtroom and Vang's mother, siblings and child ren were allowed to speak with him, Vang sank weeping to his knees while his family surrounded him and prayed with him in Hmong, Vang's native l anguage. But during more than three hours of testimony, Vang, 36, of St. Paul, sho wed little emotion or remorse over killing the six hunters and wounding two others last Nov. Vang maintained that he opened fire only after Terry Willers, who owned t he property with Robert Crotteau, fired a shot toward Vang as he walked away following what he decribed as profanity-laced, racist tongue-lashin g by Crotteau. Willers and Lauren Hesebeck, the only two members of the group who surviv ed, testified this week that Willers never shot at Vang or even pointed his gun toward him. They said Willers was the only member of the group w ho was armed. They acknowledged that Robert Crotteau yelled at Vang usin g the "f-word" and threatened to beat him up if he ever returned, but th ey said no one called Vang any racist names. Defense attorney Steven Kohn told jurors as the trial got underway Saturd ay that they would see how the entire confrontation filled Vang with fea r and forced him to act on instinct to defend himself -- a legal defense in murder cases. But prosecutor Roy Korte told jurors that Vang was motivated more by ange r over the way Crotteau treated him, and Crotteau's promise to report hi m to authorities for trespassing. And during cross-examination Thursday by Wisconsin Attorney General Peg L autenschlager, Vang appeared to play into the prosecution's hands. When she confronted Vang with a recorded statement he gave in which he sa id some of the hunters deserved to die, Vang responded matter-of-factly that the statement was true. Lautenschlager ran down the list of victims, saying each name and asking Vang which deserved to die. Vang said that three -- the Crotteaus for ho w they treated him and Allan Laski because he had a gun -- deserved to d ie. Prosecution witnesses disputed that Laski had a gun when he and Willers' daughter, Jessica Willers, jumped on an ATV and rushed to the scene of t he shootings after hearing victims call for help on two-way radios. Poli ce found no gun or evidence of one near Laski's body, they testified. Vang testified that he shot them both because Laski stopped the ATV near Vang and was holding a rifle, looking Vang's way. But he also acknowledg ed fatally shooting Jessica Willers. "My sense is I just open fire before they shoot me," Vang replied. Judge Norman Yackel told jurors Thursday that the case would be in their hands some time today after attorneys make their closing arguments. After an emotional afternoon of testimony that left many courtroom specta tors in tears, Vang's elderly mother, a Hmong immigrant who speaks littl e English, released a translated statement in which she offered condolen ces to the victims' families. "I share your grief and will mourn your losses for the rest of my life," Sao Vang said in a statement read by Vang's daughter Kia Vang. She also defended her son as a good person who helped his entire family a djust to a new country, and thanked the Hayward community -- especially the police -- for treating the family with compassion. Only Chai Vang, Terry Willers and Lauren Hesebeck know exactly what happe ned that day in the woods, she said, "and they must live with that the r est of their lives." "My hope is that in the end," God will render justice, she said. She ende d with what she said were the words of her jailed son in a conversation with her the day before: "All of this could have been prevented if we could only learn to respect one another." |