4/23/08 (CA):
Expert Testifies White Supremacists Inherently Anti-Police
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There has been expert evidence that cop killer Bendt Volarvich was an avowed white supremacist. Volarvich, watched as one by one his former associates and jail mates were brought to the stand to testify about his alleged white supremacist affiliation.
This is a major point of evidence for the prosecution, which introduced to the jury this week its assertion that Volarvich was in a white supremacist street gang at the time he pulled the trigger in Stevens' shooting death.
A police expert testified Monday that white supremacist gangs in the U.S. typically hold anti-government viewpoints, including a sanctioned hostility toward police officers.
Prosecutors were attempting to show that Volarvich ascribed to such fundamentalist viewpoints, presumably to heighten the juries perception of heinousness associated with the murder considered a key ingredient needed for a death penalty sentence.
Volarvich's attorneys, however, countered the prosecution's efforts by attempting to prove their client wasn't a radical white supremacist.
They argued instead that Volarvich was merely part of a loosely associated population known as the "Peckerwoods," a highly varied national group that espouses racist viewpoints but whose so-called members don't consistently believe in the same anti-government tenants associated with more fundamentalist groups.
Among the witnesses the prosecution called to the stand Tuesday was Greg Skeer, who said he was given an order to hurt another inmate by Volarvich while staying at the Yolo County Jail.
Skeer came to the stand barring a tattoo on his neck that read "23:16," which he said stood for the letters "WP," as in White Pride.
He said, however, he was merely proud of his white heritage and not an active member of any skinhead group.
Skeer said he received a note or a "kite" from Volarvich while in jail requesting he attack another inmate.
"He wanted me to beat up another inmate," Skeer said, "to make amends."
The "amends" were to clear his name of being a police informant, which, he said, he wasn't.
He said Volarvich promised to put in a good word for him with other "Peckerwoods" in prison if he were to carry out the task.
"I was kind of baiting the hook a bit," Skeer said. "I wanted to see how far he would go with it."
Skeer said the note from Volarvich stated he had "connections" with high ranking Peckerwood members in certain prisons that could make life easier for him should he end up at one of those facilities.
Defense attorneys aggressively questioned Skeer, however, insinuating he might have given his testimony in exchange for leniency by the District Attorney's Office.
Among the other witnesses called Tuesday was Rebecca Pina, Volarvich's ex-girlfriend and an instrumental witness in convicting his co-conspirator Gregory Zielesch.
Zielesch will be sentenced in May for his role in the shooting.
Pina recalled Volarvich yelling out racial slurs to minorities on occasion.
"He would yell at black people, calling them n-----s," Pina said.
She recalled a specific incident at a Roseville gas station where he made a Nazi-like salute accompanied by racial remarks to a group of blacks.
The prosecution is expected to call more witnesses Wednesday. The defense will also have their time to bring in their witnesses later this week.
With thanks, The Daily Democrat, 2008
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