Commission Eyes Special Rules For Trial

Kootenai County commissioners are expected to pass a resolution today to make it easier for deputies and bailiffs to manage crowds expected for the Aryan Nations civil trial.

The resolution would ban everyone - except the attorneys for both sides - from taking cameras, computers, cellular phones, pagers, video cameras and laptop computers into the Kootenai County Justice Building beginning Aug. 28 and lasting for the duration of the trial.

If passed, it would be the first time in recent history that the county made such a resolution for one trial.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had a trial like this - or one even approaching it,” Commissioner Ron Rankin said. “It would be too hard to police if we have a circus in the lobby of the courthouse.”

The resolution is part of county efforts to bolster security for the trial that will pit the Aryan Nations’ organization and its leader, Richard Butler, against a mother and her son.

Victoria Keenan and her son, Jason, allege in their civil lawsuit that members of the Aryan Nations fired shots at them while they were outside of the compound in July 1998.

The Keenans are represented by Morris Dees, a Southern Poverty Law Center attorney, who has said he hopes to bankrupt Butler’s group.

According to state judicial rules, 1st District Judge Charles Hosack can decide whether to allow cameras in the courtroom.

The rest of the building falls under the county commission’s jurisdiction, Commissioner Dick Compton said.

“It’s a very limited space and the judge is concerned about access,” Compton said. “We didn’t want a lot of extra people in there with a lot of extra equipment.”

The resolution gives deputies and bailiffs official backing to enforce the rules. Most of those guidelines were requested by a security committee formed to decide how to deal with the trial, Compton said.

“Oh yeah, we are going to (pass) it,” Compton said. “They asked for this, and we are responding to their request.”

Rankin said all the major television networks have requested space to park their communication trucks.

“I don’t know where we are going to put them all. But they all asked for a place to park and we have to try to accommodate them,” he said.

Rankin does not know how deputies plan to handle media and onlookers outside the building.

“We are heavy into the First Amendment and the rights of the public to know,” Rankin said. “We are not going to do anything to infringe on that.

“But I don’t have any problem with (banning electronics in the justice building) at all. It is a security issue.”