• Black prisoner acquited of murder of white inmate Eric Balagot sues prison staff
  Skinner had been tried twice in fatal beating
  CONCORD When the State Prison in Concord stuck black inmate James Skinner on the same tier as a violent racist, it set up the fatal beating that put Skinner through two murder trials, according to his lawsuit in federal court.
  Skinner is suing former warden Michael Cunningham and 19 other prison employees for violating his constitutional rights by subjecting him to racism and physical abuse that culminated when he and fellow inmate Eric Balagot were left unsupervised in a prison yard the morning of July 24, 1998.
  That day, Skinner, who is black, stomped and beat to death Balagot, a white man with a swastika tattoo on his chest and SS bolts above his eyes. Balagot threw the first punch, but fell to the ground and was repeatedly kicked. He died from massive head injuries, and tread marks from Skinner's sneakers were imbedded on his skull. (more...

below items last updated 27 January 2000

Other integrated prison racial violence news:

Prison version of melting pot spills violence Last week's race riot at Pelican Bay State Prison that left one inmate dead and 40 injured was the latest and bloodiest example in at least three decades of the racial friction that is a fact of prison life in California.

Black inmate gets "not guilty" verdict for murder of White convict Eric Balagot

[Juries give "not guilty" verdict so they can go home for dinner]

(excerpts from full article)

Minutes after Judge Joseph Nadeau warned spectators to refrain from any outbursts, tension fell hard inside the courtroom as the family of Eric Balagot, who died in front of Skinner two years ago, absorbed the verdict. "This is the second man he's killed," a woman angrily cried out. She rushed from the courtroom immediately after the foreman said "not guilty" to the state's two alternative theories of second-degree murder and a lesser charge of manslaughter.

Yesterday was the second time the state failed to win a conviction of Skinner, who was accused of stomping Balagot to death in an exercise yard on July 24, 1998.

Public Defender Donna Brown, who gave the defense's closing argument, in which she asked jurors to imagine the swastika-tattooed Eric Balagot appearing before them while they were picnicking on a beach with their families, said she thought they were headed for another mistrial. As deliberations wore on past 3 p.m., the jurors asked a single question about whether they could stop reviewing the murder and manslaughter charges once they agreed with Skinner's plea of self-defense. When the answer was yes, a verdict arrived within five minutes, Brown said. The acquittal satisfied Skinner and his lawyers, she said.

While the first trial hinged on images of race and racism - the defense was allowed to discuss white supremacist literature found in Balagot's cell and other fragments of his alleged white power philosophy - the barrage was significantly cut back by court rulings. Instead, the trial focused on the details of Skinner's kicks and Balagot's injuries. However, Balagot's tattoos and testimony that he leaned toward the "Aryan resistance" movement were allowed into evidence. Race was not an issue in the state's case this time around, Donovan said, but talk of Balagot's "character" and his "apparent beliefs" were a likely factor before the jury.

In contrast, the prosecution countered that the fight was over when Balagot was struck down, his head hitting the pavement. Inmate witnesses described the fight as a brutal and merciless beating that ended with Skinner allegedly saying, "This is the (expletive) that was calling us niggers. He ain't calling anybody nigger no more."

In contrast, the prosecution countered that the fight was over when Balagot was struck down, his head hitting the pavement. Inmate witnesses described the fight as a brutal and merciless beating that ended with Skinner allegedly saying, "This is the (expletive) that was calling us niggers. He ain't calling anybody nigger no more."

Balagot took the only real beating that day, accepting 11 kicks from Skinner, said Donovan
Balagot's injuries: a broken nose, a fractured skull, broken facial bones that pierced his brain. In turn, Skinner received a knot on his cheek, he added.

After exchanging blows, Skinner jumped up in the air and came down directly on Balagot's rib cage, according to Clogston, and repeatedly kicked him "like you're trying to kick a ball and kick it as far as you can," he said. All the while, Clogston testified, Balagot lay on the ground showing no visible signs he was trying to get up.

Sides in prison murder make closing points Skinner trial focuses more on self-defense than racism Wednesday, January 19, 2000

On witness stand, Skinner yields Inmate agrees he 'caused' death Saturday, January 15, 2000

Skinner murder trial begins anew He's charged with beating inmate to death Thursday, January 13, 2000

27 Nov 1999 
 * Black convict who murdered Eric Balagot faces new charges for spitting in face of guard. James Skinner, the inmate awaiting trial for the beating death of another prisoner last year, faces an assault charge for allegedly spitting in a guard's face. Skinner, 36, was indicted on a count of assault by a prisoner, a Class B felony. He is accused of spitting in Officer Scott Dodge's face on June 25 at the state prison in Concord, according to an indictment issued by the Merrimack County Grand Jury this week. Skinner will stand trial in January for the alleged intentional killing of Eric Balagot, who died during a prison yard fight with Skinner in July 1998.

19 Oct 1999
 * Black convict who murdered Eric Balagot in prison will be retried in Rockingham County.

Friday, November 26, 1999
Skinner faces new charge

                    James Skinner, the inmate awaiting trial for the beating death of another
                    prisoner last year, faces an assault charge for allegedly spitting in a guard's
                    face.

                    Skinner, 36, was indicted on a count of assault by a prisoner, a Class B felony.
                    He is accused of spitting in Officer Scott Dodge's face on June 25 at the state
                    prison in Concord, according to an indictment issued by the Merrimack
                    County Grand Jury this week. 

                    Skinner will stand trial in January for the alleged intentional killing of Eric
                    Balagot, who died during a prison yard fight with Skinner in July 1998.

                    Skinner pleaded self-defense for Balagot's death in Merrimack County
                    Superior Court earlier this year. The trial ended with a hung jury and a mistrial,
                    after which the state Attorney General's Office sought alternative charges of
                    manslaughter and first-degree assault in the case. A second trial is scheduled
                    for January in Rockingham County Superior Court. Skinner's legal team was
                    granted a change of venue after arguing that news media coverage would make
                    it nearly impossible to find an impartial jury in the Concord area.

                    Skinner is serving a life sentence with possible parole for a murder committed
                    in Massachusetts.

                    - Gwen Filosa 

                    James Skinner, who is accused of killing another inmate at the Concord state
                    prison, will be retried in Rockingham County to ensure he gets a jury untainted
                    by local press coverage. 

                    In asking for the change of venue, Skinner's lawyers cited the Monitor's
                    "extensive publicity" of the case. Some articles about the Skinner case detailed
                    proposed evidence that was later found inadmissible at trial. And the defense
                    team specifically noted Ray Barham's column, which blasted the theory that
                    racism spurred on the prison yard fight. 

                    Skinner, who is black, is pleading self-defense in the beating death of Eric
                    Balagot, a white man who wore swastika tattoos. The defense team used
                    examples of white supremacist beliefs to back their argument that Skinner was
                    fighting for his life. 

                    Skinner's trial in May ended in a hung jury. In addition to the two counts of
                    second degree murder, Skinner now faces alternative charges of manslaughter
                    and first degree assault , which will give the new jury more choices,
                    prosecutors have said.

                   The attorney general's office did not object to the change of venue. Skinner's
                    trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 10.

                    - Gwen Filosa
 

New Hampshire: Eric Balagot, 29 - 24 July 1998
 

05/25/99 * Last week a gross miscarriage of justice occurred in a New Hampshire court which ended in a Mistrial.

05/17/99 * New web page for justice in mistrial of Balagot murderer

05/15/99 * Online Petition for Justice for Eric Balagot
This petitions purpose is to secure some form of justice for the family and friends
of Eric Balagot. Remember - "Liberty and Justice for all" - Even the politically incorrect. 
I am deeply distraught at the discrimination ruining our justice system. 

14-May-1999 04:28 Summary:(Concord)  - (link expired)
- Prosecutors say they're trying to decide whether to re-file second-degree murder charges against a state prison inmate from Lynn, Massachusetts in the beating death of another prisoner. Defense lawyers described the victim as a white supremacist and said the fight had racial overtones.

05/13/99 * Racial prison murder case ends in mistrial: Inmates testifying for the state described seeing Skinner (black) kicking Balagot (white) "like you punt a football" after Balagot went down, then jumping up to bring his foot down onto Balagot's face.
State must decide whether to try again. - (link expired)
(or let him 'get away with murder')

Degrees of racism are debated:
Expert testifies on Balagot's beliefs * Tuesday, May 11, 1999 - (link expired)

Skinner: "Beating justified"  * Thursday, May 6, 1999 - (link expired)
Interrogation tape played for jurors
 

(CONCORD) - A Merrimack County Superior Court jury will resume
deliberations today in the case of a state prison inmate accused of
killing an alleged white supremacist. 

Thirty-five-year-old James Skinner, an African American serving a life
sentence for murder, says 29-year-old Eric Balagot attacked him after
shouting racial slurs in a prison exercise yard last summer. 

But state prosecutors say Skinner knocked Balagot down and then
repeatedly kicked him to death. 

Defense lawyers for Skinner presented evidence during the trial that
Balagot was a member of the Aryan nation, a national racist group. 

But prosecutors disputed the allegation and said Skinner acted out of rage
and aggression when he beat Balagot to death. 
--- 
(reader comments)
If Eric Balagot was a member of the Aryan nation, does that mean that it
was justifiable that the negro cold-bloodedly murdered him by kicking his head in?
This negro deserves the electric chair.
----
(editorial comment: racial separation in prisons would be a good idea)
 

Skinner jury pays prison a visit: * Tuesday, May 4, 99 - (link expired)
Trial opens for black inmate accused of murder
 

                    Eric Balagot was not and never had been a member of the Aryan
                    Brotherhood as reported on Feb. 26.

                    This fallacy is a deliberate ploy of James Skinner and his public
                    defender, Donna Brown, to shift the blame to the victim.

                    No doubt inmate Balagot may have had tattoos of lighting bolts and
                    may have been a racist, but he was not a member of the A.B. The
                    many years I've been confined - 23 years since 1974 in several
                    states and now the feds - I've met thousands of individuals who had
                    tattooed lighting bolts and even swastikas, and those who were
                    members of the brotherhood I can count on my two hands.

                    Common sense: If, as the motto goes, "Kill to get in, die to get out,"
                    why was Balagot only serving a 2- to 4-year sentence? On the
                    other hand, will the jury hear of James Skinner's many violent acts
                    of racism he has been involved in against white prisoners when he
                    was confined to the Massachusetts State Prison system?

                    James Skinner acted not out of fear but out of his own racist hatred
                    toward whites. Shifting the blame on someone else or another group
                   is always a ploy to cheat justice!

                    JOSEPH HEARN

                    Beaumont, Texas
                  (The writer is in the federal penitentiary in Beaumont.)
 

Inmate claims self-defense in prison killing * Wednesday, October 28, 1998 - (link expired)
Skinner says guards knew of white supremacists - (link expired)
 

                    James Skinner, the state prison inmate accused of killing another
                    inmate last summer, was arraigned yesterday on the charge of
                    second-degree murder.

                    Prosecutors say Skinner, 35, killed Eric Balagot, 29, on July 24
                    while the two were in the maximum security unit exercise yard at
                    the state prison in Concord.

                    Balagot, who was a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a white
                    supremacist prison gang, allegedly called Skinner a racial epithet
                    the night before the deadly brawl. Skinner is black, Balagot was
                    white.

                    Skinner plans to claim self defense at his trial.

                    - Sarah Schweitzer

Excessive bail shall not be required, 
nor excessive fines imposed, 
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

being placed in a prison excercise yard with a vicious murderer
is a 'cruel and unusual punishment' indeed
and a violation of Eric Balagot's Constitutional Rights.
 

5 June 99 - LANCASTER, CA -- A massive brawl between Hispanic and white convicts at California State Prison Los Angeles County left one prisoner with a gunshot wound to his shoulder from a guard's rifle and two other prisoners injured by fellow inmates. - (VCT-link)

                  Unfortunately, Europhobia continues to reign on the
                  pages of The Examiner. Apparently you found
                  Hosea L. Martin's article, "Disturbing race bias
                  among bright teens" (Opinion Page, Jan. 11), to be an
                  excellent opportunity to continue what appears to be
                  The Examiner's policy of portraying European
                  Americans as the purveyors of racial animus
                  between the races while ignoring the more disturbing
                  issue and facts related to interracial crime. 

                  Interracial crime is the ultimate manifestation of
                  America's racism, and the disturbing figures of its
                  one-sided impact are available to you as well as to
                  anyone interested in reality. 

                  A survey of prison inmates found that 53 percent of
                  violent black inmates had criminally and violently
                  victimized whites as compared to three 3 percent of
                  white violent inmates who had criminally and
                  violently victimized blacks (source: U.S. Department
                  of Justice Bureau of Statistics, "Survey of State
                  Prison Inmates, 1991" ). 

                  Please stop this false portrayal of European
                  Americans as "the" purveyors of racial animus,
                  especially in San Francisco where approximately 60
                  percent of the victims of hate crime "multiple street
                  assailant" assaults are European American (source:
                  S.F. Police Department hate crime statistics, 1995,
                  1996 and 1997). 

                  Europhobia must come to an end in this new
                  multicultural and multiracial society. Europhobia is a
                  serious sickness that our society can ill afford to feed
                  with articles similar to Martin's. It must stop. 

                  Louis Calabro
                  President
                  European / American Issues Forum San Bruno 
 

Multiculturalism

As A Tool To Divide And Conquer 
The Layman's Primer

by Louis Beam