Hate enhancer stands in neighbor harass case
09.14.00 | The Capital Times

By Jason Shepard

MONROE -- A judge refused to throw out a hate crime enhancer against Dary Byczek, the town of Brooklyn man accused of harassing his neighbors because they are lesbians.

Green County prosecutors sought the hate crime enhancer after they charged Byczek with disorderly conduct for a Memorial Day incident in which he allegedly screamed vulgarities and derogatory statements toward the women and tore through their driveway in a monster truck.

Visiting Lafayette County Circuit Judge William Johnston said Wednesday it appeared Byczek's conduct ''was carried out . . . because of his assumption that they were lesbians.''

The state's hate crimes law allows for harsher punishment if a criminal selects victims based on race, gender, sexual orientation or other protected classes of people, Johnston said.

''I don't think this is . . . an attempt to regulate free speech,'' Johnston ruled, dismissing Byczek's motion to drop the hate crime enhancer.

The case is the first time the Green County District Attorney's Office filed a hate crime enhancer for gays or lesbians. It would increase the possible jail time Byczek faces from 90 days to one year.

In oral arguments at the Green County Courthouse on Wednesday, Madison defense attorney Mark Eisenberg argued that Byczek's statements, including graffiti Byczek spray-painted on an abandoned truck that read ''Lesbians will go to hell,'' were protected speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Eisenberg also argued that a hate crime enhancer could not be attached to the crime of disorderly conduct because it was not specifically a crime against a person or property, which is required under the hate crime statute.

But Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Kohl said a simple review of the alleged facts showed that Byczek's conduct was a crime against both property and people.

The criminal complaint, and two police reports by Green County sheriff's deputies, allege that Byczek rode his monster truck into the driveway of his neighbors, four women who live in a duplex along Highway 104 in the town of Brooklyn.

The women, Gail Farrington, Kathy Carter, Myrna Peterson and Cheryl Hack, said they had been suffering harassment from Byczek for several years prior to the incident.

Byczek had become angry after seeing the women videotape him riding his truck on his property, close to the fence separating the two neighbor's lands. The women were trying to obtain proof that Byczek was spitting dirt and dust intentionally to force them out of their backyard.

Byczek then spray painted the anti-gay sign on one of his trucks and propped it near the women's garden, the complaint alleged. He then allegedly drove into the women's driveway and pounded on their front doors, screaming profanities.

The women said they feared for their lives and the two couples each called 911.

Kohl said the conduct, including damage to the women's driveway and plants, coupled with the threatening statements, clearly established the charge of disorderly conduct.

Judge Johnston agreed, saying Byczek's yelling profanities, pounding on the door and damaging property supported the charge. ''The whole course of his conduct supports the charge of disorderly conduct,'' the judge said.

Byczek is scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Oct. 9 on a new charge of violating a restraining order, Kohl said. An Oct. 18 pre-trial hearing was set in the hate crime case, and attorneys said all charges may be consolidated.

 

Lesbian hate crime case to go to trial
12.07.00 | The Capital Times

by Jason Shepard

A jury will decide whether Dary Byczek committed a hate crime when he screamed anti-lesbian slurs at his neighbors and then spray-painted a truck declaring, ''Lesbians will go to hell.''

Moments before he was expected to enter a plea and be sentenced Wednesday in Green County Circuit Court, Byczek rejected an offer to settle the case and asked for a trial date.

Visiting Lafayette County Circuit Judge William Johnston scheduled a two-day jury trial for Jan. 11.

The case is the first in Green County to involve a hate crime with gay or lesbian victims.

Byczek, 35, was charged in June with disorderly conduct as a hate crime for a Memorial Day weekend incident in which his neighbors called 911, saying Byczek was pounding at their front door and they were afraid for their lives.

Byczek lived on Highway T in the town of Brooklyn next to a duplex built by two lesbian couples. The four women told authorities they have been subjected to harassment for several years, but it got out of control when Byczek spray-painted ''Lesbians will go to hell'' on a truck and parked it on his property just a few feet from the women's garden.

They were tending to their garden when Byczek placed the truck near them, and the women began to videotape his actions, which they said a Green County deputy told them to do in order to establish a pattern of harassment.

The videotaping upset Byczek and he drove a large monster truck onto the women's property and screamed anti-lesbian slurs and told the women they were going to hell, according to reports from the Green County Sheriff's Office.

Byczek was arrested and told to cease his alleged harassment, which included driving his monster trucks along the women's property line making noise and spitting dust.

The arrest sparked another incident on the Labor Day weekend after the four women won a two-year restraining order against Byczek. He was charged with violating the restraining order and bail jumping after he allegedly participated in a ''parade'' of monster trucks along the women's fence line.

Following his arrests, Byczek moved to Oxford in Adams County and is trying to sell his home.

In court Wednesday, Byczek's Madison attorney Mark Eisenberg said the sticking point in a plea agreement was whether Byczek would plead guilty to the hate crime enhancer.

The four women have said it's important to them to have Byczek convicted of a hate crime because they felt the only reason Byczek targeted them was because they are lesbians.

The hate crime enhancer increases the potential penalty from 90 days to one year in jail.

Hate crime trial shakes up Monroe
Jury verdict expected today
01.12.01 | The Capital Times

by Jason Shepard

MONROE -- Following a day of protests outside the Green County Courthouse by Christian fundamentalists, a jury was expected to decide today whether to deliver a conviction in Green County's first-ever hate crime case involving homosexuality.

A jury in Monroe, about 50 miles south of Madison, was scheduled to hear closing arguments today in the case of Dary Byczek, who is charged with disorderly conduct as a hate crime for a May 29, 2000, incident in which he allegedly hurled vulgarities and threats at his neighbors, who are two lesbian couples.

The case is Green County's first ever involving a hate crime enhancer based on sexual orientation, and it has raised questions about how to draw the line between protected First Amendment expression and threatening, intimidating conduct.

The trial itself produced few surprises as it began on Thursday. The real drama took place Thursday morning on two fronts: inside the courtroom during jury selection and outside on the steps of the historic courthouse on the city square.

At about 11 a.m., Ralph Ovadal, pastor and director of Wisconsin Christians United, held a press conference and rally to denounce the trial and hate crime laws in general.

Ovadal is no stranger to the local anti-gay movement, and about 30 of his supporters, who appeared to range from age 5 to 80, were on hand to support Byczek.

But bizarrely, within 20 minutes of Ovadal's rally, his wife was called inside the courtroom to serve on Byczek's jury. She was eventually excused from jury duty.

Outside, minutes before his wife was called to be questioned by Judge William Johnston, Ovadal pronounced that she should not be disqualified from the jury simply because of whom she was married to, especially ''in these times of equality between the sexes.''

''I believe she should be able to serve on that jury,'' Ovadal said, adding in response to a question that he thought he too could be an impartial juror.

His comments came after he gave a prepared statement in which he called the trial ''a great miscarriage of justice'' and said he saw the trial ''as part of a rising tide of fascism.''

Inside, jury selection had been going on for more than 2 1/2 hours when Linda Ovadal's name was called. Johnston had excluded almost a dozen jurors by this time, some of whom said they couldn't sit as impartial jurors because of their belief that homosexuality was wrong.

''I don't approve of that lifestyle,'' said one woman. ''I don't think I could be fair or unbiased about it.''

In a highly unusual move, Johnston had ordered that both attorneys give their opening statements to the entire pool of jurors in order to give them a flavor of what the trial was about. After the opening statements, jury selection began and lasted more than three hours.

Linda Ovadal admitted to the judge that she had had conversations with the defendant in the past.

As Linda Ovadal was being questioned, the protesters outside began to sing Christian church hymns, and their voices echoed in the large courtroom on the second floor of the courthouse.

Her responses came after Johnston had asked prospective jurors nearly a dozen questions about possible affiliations with any people involved in the case.

Linda Ovadal said the Byczeks visited her church once in the past few months and said she had spoken about the case with her husband, who she never named but told the judge he was a pastor.

''And you don't feel that has caused you in any way to form an opinion in this matter?'' Johnston asked her.

''I have an opinion on the law, but I think I can look at the evidence and make an unbiased decision,'' Ovadal responded, saying several times she could make an unbiased decision on the case.

But then Ovadal admitted that her belief in the Bible's teaching would ultimately dictate her decisions as a juror and said God teaches her not to ''favor one person or group over another person or group.''

Her husband had used virtually the same language minutes before to condemn hate crime laws as a violation of equal protection of the laws as afforded by the U.S. Constitution.

Johnston excused Linda Ovadal as a juror, although she returned later in the afternoon with her husband to observe the trial.

It was among the oddities at the trial, which has drawn attention of both anti- and pro-gay groups. At one point, the Ovadals were seated within a few rows of Debra Weill, the executive director of the Madison-based OutReach, a gay service organization.

One elderly man sitting in the audience had a small rainbow flag pinned to his T-shirt.

The courthouse was heavily patrolled by Green County sheriff's deputies and members of the Monroe Police Department.

Several jurors were questioned in the judge's chambers after they answered yes to whether they themselves, a close friend or a family member was gay or lesbian. Because the judge refused a request by a reporter to attend the questioning, it's not known if any of those were excused because of their answers.

At one point, the courtroom was silent for several minutes as both lawyers decided which jurors they wanted to excuse from the panel. Again, somehow the protesters timed their hymns well. Jurors had nothing to do but look at each other and listen to the songs. One prospective juror tapped his foot to the beat of the song.

As for the trial itself, three prosecution witnesses were called, including two of the four women who lived next to Byczek, Cheryl Hack and Gail Farrington.

The two couples lived next door to Byczek on Wisconsin 104 in the town of Brooklyn and said they had experienced longtime problems with Byczek. The women said he harassed them by driving his monster trucks along their property line and creating clouds of dirt while they were gardening.

Sheriff's deputy Kay Lukes testified that she answered a 911 call on May 26, 2000, from one of the women who was hysterical because Byczek was screaming vulgarities and pounding on their front door.

Earlier in the day, Byczek had reportedly spray-painted ''Lesbians will go to hell'' on an abandoned truck that he placed on his side of the property line a few feet from the women's garden. Byczek then rammed the abandoned truck with another truck, creating a loud noise and shoving the truck closer to the garden.

A videotape of portions of the incident was played for the jury, and Byczek could be heard screaming vulgarities and telling the women that they would go to hell.

''I was very frightened,'' Hack testified.

The women also said Byczek damaged their driveway by recklessly driving his monster truck up to their house.

Today's prosecution testimony was expected to include the two other women and another sheriff's deputy. It is being tried by Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Kohl.

Defense attorney Mark Eisenberg was expected to call Byczek's wife, Dawn, and his mother to the stand, along with two other neighbors. It was not known if Byczek himself would testify.

Byczek faces up to one year in jail if convicted of disorderly conduct with the hate crime enhancer. Without the enhancer, he faces 90 days.

 

Verdict split in Monroe hate crime trial
01.13.01 | The Capital Times

by Jason Shepard

MONROE -- A jury of seven men and five women delivered a split verdict Friday night for Dary Byczek, the 35-year-old man charged with Green County's first-ever hate crime based on sexual orientation.

Byczek was convicted of disorderly conduct for his behavior on May 26, 2000, when he was arrested after he screamed obscenities and anti-gay slurs at his neighbors, who are two lesbian couples.

But the jury returned a not guilty verdict to a hate crimes penalty enhancer.

Byczek's wife, Dawn, broke down in tears after the not guilty verdict was read, and the couple was congratulated by Ralph Ovadal, the anti-gay pastor and director of Wisconsin Christians United, and Ovadal's wife, Linda.

The two lesbian couples -- Gail Farrington, Kathryn Carter, Myrna Peterson and Cheryl Hack -- were visibly disappointed after the verdict was read, but said later they understood the jury's decision and thanked Green County prosecutors for pursuing the case.

About 20 people sat in the courtroom at about 7:30 p.m. Friday when the verdict was read. The verdict concluded a two-day trial in Green County Circuit Court that drew statewide attention from anti- and pro-gay activists and organizations.

Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Kohl said after the verdict that he considered it a win, and said the jury obviously struggled with the hate crime issue.

''I think it's important because it does send a message to the community that we do take these matters seriously,'' Kohl said.

''It took a lot of guts for them to charge this,'' Carter said of the District Attorney's Office. ''Here we are in rural Wisconsin and we wondered what would even happen. So we're thankful.''

Farrington said she was disappointed in the verdict because the hate crimes enhancer would have sent a strong message that gays and lesbians can't be harassed because of their sexual orientation. But she hopes the disorderly conduct conviction will end any further harassment. (After Byczek was charged, he and his family moved to Oxford, Wis.)

Several observers said they thought the jury likely struggled with determining what role the women's sexual orientation played in the events of May 26 and previous incidents of harassment.

Mark Eisenberg, Byczek's attorney, had argued that the incident took place because Byczek was frustrated by being videotaped by the women, and was not motivated by Byczek's feelings toward lesbians.

''I think he really felt he didn't pick on them because they were gay,'' Eisenberg said. ''I don't really believe he's a bigot.''

He said the dispute was part of ongoing sour relations between two neighbors, and said Byczek would likely have behaved the same had his neighbors been a ''normal heterosexual couple.''

The women testified that they had been subjected to harassment from Byczek since they moved to the town of Brooklyn in 1996. The harassment mostly consisted of Byczek driving monster trucks repeatedly along their fence line, spitting mud and dirt onto the women's property, often while they were outside.

On May 26, while Carter and Farrington were tending their garden, Byczek used spray paint to write ''Lesbians will go to hell'' on an abandoned truck, which he parked within feet from the women's garden on his side of the fence, and then rammed into the truck with another truck.

A videotape of the incident that was made by the women also showed Byczek shouting at them and entering their driveway with a large truck. He pounded on the door, screaming profanities and demanding to talk to them.

A sentencing hearing was scheduled for Feb. 23 at 8:45 a.m. Byczek faces a fine of $ 1,000 and up to 90 days in jail. With the hate crime enhancement, he could have faced one year in jail and a fine of $ 10,000.

At the same time, a scheduling conference will be held on a separate criminal case involving harassment allegations against Byczek. In that case, he is charged with several counts of bail jumping and violating a restraining order for incidents on Labor Day weekend involving the four women.