Light sentence angers family

BONNERS FERRY – A Spokane man whose stepfather works in law enforcement was sentenced Wednesday to 20 days on a work detail by a judge who brokered a plea bargain – saying “boys will be boys” in describing how a teenage girl was burned in a bonfire.

Brian Todd Davis, 21, was accused of saying “Jews burn” as he threw 17-year-old Ilaura Fleck into a bonfire on July 27 during a beer keg party on Katka Mountain in Boundary County.

In sentencing Davis, visiting 1st District Magistrate Debra Heise, of Sandpoint, said she was ruling that a hate crime didn’t occur because the victim isn’t Jewish.

“That makes me angry,” the victim responded after the hearing. “I do believe I was the victim of a hate crime.”

She continues to experience nightmares about the fire and has lost trust in others, she told the court.

The teenager, who suffered first- and second-degree burns on her legs, arm and buttocks, likely faces expensive reconstructive surgery. She attends high school in Bonners Ferry and lives with her father, Joe Fleck, who’s Roman Catholic. Her mother, who lives in Spokane, is a practicing Muslim.

“Justice has not been served,” said the victim’s mother, identifying herself as Haleema. “This is just the beginning; we’re not done fighting yet.”

If convicted of aggravated battery, Davis could have faced 15 years in prison.

Davis wasn’t arrested after the incident and wasn’t charged with a felony hate crime as the victim and her family requested.

After two months of pressure from the victim’s father, Boundary County Prosecutor Jack Douglas filed a felony aggravated battery complaint against Davis.

But at a preliminary hearing on Friday, Heise told the prosecutor she was prepared to dismiss the felony charge if he didn’t strike a plea deal and allow the defendant to plead guilty to battery, a simple misdemeanor.

Joe Fleck said he was told by the prosecutor that the judge was pressing for the plea deal because she had two children of her own and considered Davis’ acts a youthful indiscretion, fueled by alcohol, describing it as “boys will be boys.”

That angered the victim and her family and sparked outrage among human rights groups in Boundary, Bonner and Kootenai counties.

“We witnessed a shocking miscarriage of justice at the Boundary County Court House,” the Boundary County Human Rights Task Force said in a prepared statement.

“It is inexplicable that after hearing the testimony, Judge Heise would suggest reducing the charge and discounting the severity of the crime,” said the statement released by spokeswoman Christi Kramer.

“We have a hate crime law, and that was a hate crime when he said to her, ‘Jews burn,’ ” said Marshall Mend, a longtime member of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations.

“It’s a hate crime whether she’s Jewish or not,” said Mend. He was critical of the prosecutor for not filing a hate crime charge, stalling the victim and her family and urging them to “not make waves.”

“What kind of prosecutor is that?” Mend asked. “This is not Nazi Germany. It’s Idaho in the United States of America.”

Sentencing for Davis wasn’t supposed to occur for several weeks but was moved up to Wednesday, even though the victim hasn’t completed medical treatment and couldn’t submit a bill for reimbursement.

The prosecutor urged the judge to send Davis to jail for 30 days, saying he was “getting a big break.” Restitution for the victim’s medical bills, ordered by the judge, will be decided at a future date.

At the sentencing, Davis didn’t address the court but apologized in a written statement read by his attorney, Bryce W. Powell, of Sandpoint. His attorney called Davis’ friend, Jock Desmarais, who testified he saw Davis “set down the victim” near the bonfire after picking her up while the two “were joking around.”

His testimony was disputed by the victim and prosecution witnesses who testified at Friday’s hearing. They quoted Davis as saying because Ilaura Fleck’s father was a Catholic and her mother a Muslim, “that makes you a Jew. All Jews should be burned.” Davis then picked up Fleck and threw her into the bonfire, about 4 feet in diameter, the witnesses said.

The judge told the packed courtroom the “matter has been emotion-driven.”

“The words used here are hate-filled … but have to be examined in context,” the judge said from the bench during the sentencing. She also ruled that Davis wasn’t thrown into the bonfire but was dropped onto a log and then fell into the flames.

“The words were stupid. The words were mindless … but this was not a hate crime,” the judge said.

The judge’s remarks weren’t well-received by human rights task force members from Boundary, Bonner and Kootenai counties who filled the courtroom for the sentencing. Six deputies stood guard and used a metal detector for those entering.

Afterwards, Davis – who wasn’t in custody – was escorted from the courtroom through restricted areas by two deputies, in a failed attempt to reach the back door of the courthouse so the defendant could avoid news photographers.

“No comment,” Davis said as he walked briskly with the deputies, pulling his coat up to hide his face from news cameras.

Deputies and commanders at the Boundary County Sheriff’s Office wouldn’t answer questions about why the defendant got the special escort, while the victim left the courtroom with only her family members. The judge and prosecutor declined interview requests after the hearing.

“I think he should be riding in the back of a cop car and not getting this special escort,” Ilaura Fleck said outside the courthouse, where she was embraced by her mother and father, who are divorced.

“I honestly don’t believe justice was served here,” the victim said, holding a vase with flowers given her by three teenage friends who attended the court proceeding.

“What happened to me was a hate crime,” the teenager said. “I think he got special treatment because his stepfather was in law enforcement.”

The defendant has lived in North Idaho much of his life. His stepfather, Mark Strangio, has worked in law enforcement in Boundary County and as a sheriff’s deputy in Bonner County, where Magistrate Heise presides.

After two years as a Bonner County deputy, Strangio resigned in May and works for a private contractor in Iraq, officials confirmed.

The felony charge against his stepson was filed on Oct. 2 after the victim’s father sought the services of Sandpoint attorney Todd Reed, who called the prosecutor and consulted with the family about a civil suit, the victim’s father said.

But, Joe Fleck said, he later learned another attorney in the same Sandpoint law firm, Powell, had been hired to defend Davis and helped him avoid a felony conviction.

“The conflict of interest, from my point of view is that the law firm gained the information it needed to fight the defendant’s criminal trial from the victim’s family,” the father said in a formal complaint filed with the Idaho Bar Association.

Reed did not return a telephone call seeking comment.