By Paul Krueger / Special to OB Rag
There’s no dispute that Troy Scholder is a Hells Angel. And Scholder’s lawyer now concedes that his client stabbed a Black man in the chest on Newport Avenue.
But the jury in Scholder’s criminal trial heard two very different stories about why Scholder attacked that victim, and what crime, if any, he’s guilty of.
In closing arguments on Wednesday, April 23 this year prosecutor Miriam Hemming urged the jury to convict Scholder of attempted murder and two allegations of felony assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury.
“Troy Scholder was spoiling for a fight, and there is absolutely no reason to stab someone in the chest without an intent to kill,” Heming told the jury. She said the evidence — which includes surveillance video of the stabbing — helps prove that Scholder’s actions were “willful, deliberate, and premeditated.”
The June 6, 2023 stabbing was the culmination of a dispute over comments the victim made to the girlfriend of a Hells Angels’ associate outside a Newport Avenue bar.
According to the prosecutor, the victim and two of his friends — all of them black males — had left the bar and were walking down Newport when a group of bikers ran after them. One victim was beaten and another was stabbed. The third man managed to outrun his assailants.
The prosecutor said Scholder’s victim came literally “within an inch of his life” when Scholder stabbed him in the right chest, severing an artery and damaging his lung.
Scholder also faces a hate crime enhancement for his alleged crimes. Prosecutor Hemming showed jurors a photo of the bare-chested defendant, who has a large Iron Cross tattoo located just below his Hells Angels ink. An expert witness testified that the Iron Cross is a racist symbol, as are the Nazi “Lightning Bolts” and swastikas that adorn the clothing worn by Hell’s Angels and their associates.
Hemming argued that the victims were attacked only “because they were three Black guys hitting on a white girl.”
But Scholder’s attorney told jurors that “racial hatred” played no part in the alleged crimes.
Attorney Marc Kohnen said the three victims had been drinking and smoking marijuana for hours before the confrontation. He said the stabbing victim “battered” one of the women, who told her biker boyfriend that she was “terrified” and needed “protection.”
Kohnen said Scholder may have intended to “hurt or harm (his victim), but he never, never, never intended to kill him.
“He could have stabbed him ten, twenty, thirty times, but instead, he turned and walked away,” Kohen said.
Kohen said the evidence does not support a guilty verdict on the attempted murder charge or a separate allegation of assault with intent to produce great bodily injury on a second victim who Scholder “head-butted” during the melee.
But the defense attorney did not contest the allegation that his client committed the lesser crime of felony assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily harm in the stabbing.
Scholder faces a prison term of 30-years-to-life if convicted of attempted murder.
His case is the first to go to trial in this sweeping grand jury indictment against the biker gangs.
Eleven defendants have pleaded guilty, two others are scheduled for trial in May, and prosecutors dropped charges against the three remaining defendants.
Wow, really, this is felony stupid. Every action is a chosen consequence. A free choice to not escalate.
Attorney Marc Kohnen said Scholder may have intended to “hurt or harm (his victim), but he never, never, never intended to kill him. “He could have stabbed him ten, twenty, thirty times, but instead, he turned and walked away,” Kohen said.
Well, that was might white of him, wasn’t it? Perhaps the jury ought to consider this magnanimous gesture during sentencing?
It’s usually the judge who decides the sentence.
An earlier version of this post erroneously stated the stabbing incident was in 2022; it was in 2023.