The story of this man has been doing the rounds at a few blogs, apparently beginning at Graeme’s Blog. Hidanovic was sentenced to 18 months in prison, but one of the Jurors has claimed she convinced others to vote guilty by telling them of her experience with other Bosnians.

His attorney tried to get a re-trial. A judge upheld the conviction.

Mevludin Hidanovic requested a new trial after a juror came forward. That juror said she had persuaded other jurors to convict Hidanovic, based on bad experiences she’d had with Bosnians.

[...] Today a Cass County judge denied his request for a new trial. In spite of juror Becky Rettig’s revelation that Hidanovic’s Bosnian ethnicity motivated her to convict to him. Judge Wade Webb says there is no evidence of juror misconduct. He says Rettig’s comments were general and did not specifically identify Hidanovic. Therefore any comments she made were not prejudicial.

Juror regrets voting guilty.

Rettig says in an affidavit that she was the only juror who originally voted him guilty during the first jury polling. She says she convinced other jurors to convict him.

She says she told fellow jurors that Bosnians had stolen from her business and then lied about it.

This isn’t available at the original site anymore, I found it on Google cache: Jamestown Sun.

Juror affidavits do not support a new trial for a man convicted in a fairgrounds brawl, a prosecutor says.

Mevludin Hidanovic is seeking a new trial after one juror said she had a change of heart. Becky Rettig said she had persuaded other jurors to convict Hidanovic based on her bad experiences with Bosnians.

Hidanovic was sentenced to 18 months in prison for engaging in a riot while armed. The charge stems from a June 24 brawl at the Red River Valley Fairgrounds involving more than 20 people.

Cass County Sheriff’s Detective Dean Wawers asked jurors to submit affidavits in response to Rettig’s claims.

“Rettig did not provide additional information to the jury about Mevludin Hidanovic, but discussed generic experiences with an ethnic group,” Assistant Cass County State’s Attorney Mark Boening wrote in court papers submitted Tuesday.

“Becky Rettig may have something similar to ‘buyer’s remorse’ over her verdict in this case, but there is no reason to grant the defendant a new trial,” Boening said.

Sheriff’s officials said they were interested in any connections between Rettig and Hidanovic’s wife, Chanda, since both apparently attended school in West Fargo. The women denied knowing each other until a coincidental meeting at a restaurant after the trial.