|
Jan.
10, 2001
By Aspen C Emmett
Journal Staff Writer
A Dolores man who was accused of three assaults, three counts of driving under the influence and one count of felony ethnic intimidation in 2001 was convicted of assault Tuesday evening by a jury in district court.
Prior to this week, Ralph Eagler was serving 1,659 days in jail for various misdemeanor offenses. Three jury trials in 2001 resulted in three DUI convictions and in November at a fourth trial, Eagler was convicted of third-degree assault. His fifth trial in less than a year also resulted in a second assault conviction, assuring him an even-longer jail term.
Eagler was charged with two counts of third-degree assault and one of felony ethnic intimidation for a domestic incident last March in which he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend and then assaulted a man who confronted him about the couple’s dispute at the Ute Mountain Motel.
One assault charge was dismissed following the prosecution’s case because the girlfriend, Carmelita Payte, failed to appear in court to testify.
The second assault charge and the felony count did go to the jury after two days of testimony and less than a half an hour later, the jury had acquitted Eagler of ethnic intimidation but found him guilty of third-degree assault.
According to a police report, Payte and Eagler began arguing the night of March 14, when Eagler reportedly said he “didn’t want her hanging around her Indian friends.” Payte, who is Native American, stated she was tired of him calling her and her friends, “no-good Injuns.” He reportedly told her that he hated “no-good Injuns because Indians are space aliens”
Payte told police Eagler pushed her to the ground and made her “feel bad for having brown skin.”
Payte went to a nearby room and told her brother-in-law, Jonathan Yazzie, what had transpired.
Yazzie then said he followed Eagler across South Broadway to confront him about his alleged behavior, and Eagler turned about and punched him in the face. Yazzie reportedly fell to the ground in the median of the roadway and got to his feet, only to be knocked down again by Eagler. While Yazzie was down, Eagler kicked Yazzie in the face, according to court documents.
Shortly after the altercation, police arrived and Eagler claimed he was the victim who was being chased and harassed by Yazzie. All the while, Eagler, who was reportedly intoxicated at the time, blurted out racist remarks towards a group of Native Americans in the parking lot who had witnessed the assault, according to police reports.
Upon arrest, Eagler continued to make racial comments and said next time he would take care of the “f------ Injuns.”
Police video and audio surveillance captured much of Eagle’s excited utterances, and police officers’ testimony Tuesday reiterated his combative and hostile behavior. Eagler did not testify on his own behalf.
Public defender Lauren Wolpin argued that Eagler was not in fact racist because of the company he kept and his vulgar language was just part of his everyday speech habits.
“If he hates Native Americans, then why is he sleeping with, working with and hanging out with them?” she said in closing arguments. “It doesn’t matter if he (Yazzie) was purple — he could have been green.”
Wolpin said the case “had (reasonable) doubt written all over it” and Eagler was only acting in self-defense because he was scared. Additionally, Eagler’s attorney argued that Payte’s statements were only hearsay and Yazzie was the primary aggressor because he followed Eagler out into the road.
“He (Yazzie) is bigger, taller, and 30 years younger than my client,” Wolpin told the court. “All he could do was react, and that’s what he did.”
Deputy District Attorney Brian Rossiter said there was ample evidence to convict Eagler on both counts of assault and ethnic intimidation.
“Three officers testified to what they saw and heard. He (Eagler) was not frightened,” Rossiter stated. “Before, during and after, the defendant was full of hate for Native Americans and he let everyone around know it.”
However, the jury of nine women and three women acquitted Eagler on the ethnic-intimidation charge, convicting him only of the assault.
A sentencing date has been set for Feb. 21 at 1:30 p.m. at district court.
In November, Eagler was convicted of third-degree assault for an alleged attack on a bartender at the Hollywood in Dolores. He was reportedly intoxicated and angry at the bartender because he would not serve him any more alcohol. He received 580 days in jail for the offense.
|
