RAPID CITY, S.D. -- The trial of a 41-year-old Philip man charged with spraying beer and yelling racial slurs at a Native American school group at a minor league hockey game this past winter ended Thursday morning, and the judge said he will issue a decision in three to four weeks.
Magistrate Judge Eric Strawn said he recognizes the importance of the trial to everyone involved and said he will write a lengthy decision, the Rapid City Journal reported.
The disorderly conduct trial ended quickly Thursday after Michael Butler, attorney for defendant Trace O'Connell, called no witnesses, but said the city is trying to hold O’Connell responsible for the actions of the entire group he was with. There were about 20 people in the suite at the hockey game, with the 50 students and seven chaperones from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation seated directly below them.
The trial was conducted at the Performing Arts Center to accommodate a large audience that numbered as many as 250 Wednesday, including many of the students, but was probably half that large Thursday morning.
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