Hunter Guilty; Spared Life Term
Jury Ruling Upsets Victim's Family
Associated Press
October 6,2007
MARINETTE, Wis. -- A jury found a white former sawmill worker guilty Friday night in the shooting and stabbing death of a Hmong immigrant while they hunted squirrels in a northwoods wildlife area.
The jury convicted James Nichols of second-degree intentional homicide in the death of 30-year-old Cha Vang, a case that had rekindled racial tensions in northern Wisconsin, where a Hmong deer hunter fatally shot six white hunters three years ago.
Nichols, 29, of Peshtigo, had been charged with first-degree intentional homicide, but the judge gave jurors an alternative of the lesser charge that carries a 60-year prison term instead of life.
Nichols also was convicted on charges of hiding a corpse and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Pang Vue, the victim's widow, collapsed just outside the courtroom after the verdict and was carried away, moaning, by a sheriff's deputy. A family member said later that she fainted and was taken to a hospital but was expected to be OK.
"We are pleased with the verdict," said assistant attorney general Roy Korte who prosecuted the case. "I am sure it was a tough decision and we respect the verdict."
Nichols appeared to fight back tears as he left the courtroom with his arms folded against his chest.
"Mr. Nichols took the verdict very hard," defense lawyer Kent Hoffmann said. "We believe this was a case of self-defense."
Judge David Miron said a sentencing date would be set next week. He ordered Nichols taken to prison because he also faces five years for violating probation on a previous burglary charge.
Yee Vang, the older brother of Cha Vang, said through an interpreter that he was angry and confused about why Nichols won't get the maximum penalty for killing his brother.
"In my native country, if you are guilty you are guilty. There is no first or second degree," he said.
Leaders of several Hmong groups expressed the same sentiments.
"The message sent to the Hmong community is that someone can shoot a Hmong hunter and not get the maximum sentence," said Tou Ger Xiong, spokesman for the Coalition for Community Relations out of St. Paul, Minn. "What we found today was more division and broken bridges between our communities."
Nichols told investigators he and Vang got into a dispute while hunting separately Jan. 5 in the Peshtigo Wildlife Area. He acknowledged shooting and stabbing Vang, but said he did it in self-defense.
"The only person who had the right to exercise self-defense is dead, killed by the defendant," Korte said in closing arguments.
He said Nichols took advantage of the isolation in the woods to act on an "ugly trait of his -- racism toward Hmong."
But defense attorney Hank Schultz accused prosecutors of using "character assassination" and relying on circumstantial evidence. He told jurors Nichols might be a liar and not very smart, but he wasn't a murderer.
Vang, who lived in Green Bay, was born in Laos, fled to a refugee camp in Thailand and then immigrated to the U.S. with his family in 2004.
Several hundred thousand Hmong fled Laos for the United States after the communists seized control in 1975. Many settled in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
During the four-day trial, prosecutors portrayed Nichols as prejudiced against Hmong and a liar. They introduced two taped confessions and witness testimony to show how he had changed his story.
Nichols was arrested after he went to a hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds to both of his hands, about the same time Vang's hunting companions reported him missing. Nichols initially said an unknown gunman shot him miles from the wildlife area.
But he changed his story after a deputy asked why he did not call police, and he helped with the search for the body, leading investigators to the area where a search dog found it the next day, under a log and covered by leaves.
In his account of what happened, Nichols said he spotted Vang about 90 feet away while stalking a squirrel. He said Vang shot him in the hand with a .22-caliber rifle after he told Vang he was interfering with his hunt.
Nichols said he ducked behind a tree and took a "wild shot" at Vang with a shotgun. Vang then shot him again before Nichols rushed him, took away his gun and stabbed him twice in the neck with a pocketknife, he said.
But witness testimony contradicted Nichols' story.
Marinette County Sheriff's detective Tony O'Neill showed how both of Nichols' hands could have been injured by one shot. Retired Madison police detective Greg Martin -- a defense witness testifying under cross-examination -- offered a count of Vang's bullets that showed he probably only fired once during the confrontation.
Witnesses also testified that Nichols and Vang were probably much closer than 90 feet when they shot each other. Martin said he thought Vang's .22-caliber rifle was fired anywhere from three feet to "a reasonable longer distance" from Nichols.
Nichols' defense attorneys brought in several character witnesses who described him as a nice person, who was talkative and helpful. His fiancee's mother and a fishing buddy testified that he appeared shaken up after he was shot.
But the taped interviews made at the hospital and played for the jury showed he then was talkative, inquisitive and sometimes joking around.