A man charged with attempted second-degree murder in connection with a shot targeting three black youths was ordered held in jail Tuesday as federal authorities also indicated that they would investigate the shooting as a possible hate crime.

Jimmy J. Blackburn, 29, pleaded not guilty before Superior Court Judge Sam Cozza, who ordered Blackburn to remain in custody on a $500,000 bond. Cozza set Blackburn’s trial on the three attempted murder charges for Nov. 19.

Blackburn was arrested Sept. 13 as Spokane police officers converged at the Days Inn, at 120 W. Third Ave., to investigate the shooting of Paul A. Haney, 33, who was found dead in the parking lot.

According to court records, investigators believe Kevin M. Heaton, 35, is responsible for that shooting and remains on the loose. Heaton had paid for the room in which Blackburn was found at the Days Inn, but the court records don’t indicate whether Blackburn had any involvement in the Haney shooting.

Two Coeur d’Alene brothers convicted in October of a hate crime have requested a new trial, accusing the presiding juror of misconduct.

William Tankovich Jr. (below) and his brother Frank Tankovich (right) were convicted of felony malicious harassment and conspiracy to commit malicious harassment for a 2009 altercation with a Puerto Rican man, Kenneth Requena. 

The Tankoviches’ attorneys, Jedediah Whitaker and Chris Schwartz, said in their motions for a new trial that the presiding juror attempted to influence another juror “through the use of guilt, recrimination, harassment and the false display of authority.”

Read the rest of Allison Boggs’ story here.