By ELAINE SILVESTRINI
The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - Jurors in the case of a man charged with hiding his Serbian military service could unanimously agree on but one thing this morning: Continuing their heated deliberations would be pointless.

“We were not getting anywhere, and we were going backwards,” said foreman Paul Patenaude, 36, a physical therapist from Pinellas County, who described himself as frustrated and drained after more than eight hours of deliberations spread out over three days.

Patenaude spoke after U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore declared a mistrial in the case of Branko Popic, 59, of St. Petersburg, who was charged with two counts of lying on immigration forms for failing to disclose his service in the Serbian Army of the Republic of Srpska, also known as the VRS when he applied for refugee status and later for permanent residency in the U.S. Each count carries a maximum of five years in federal prison.

Popic was the first of six St. Petersburg-area residents expected to go on trial on similar charges. In addition, three other men from the area are considered fugitives after investigators failed to locate them after they were indicted on similar charges.

According to testimony during Popic’s trial, the names of more than 100 U.S. residents were found in documents obtained by the International Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Several others around the nation have been charged and tried for allegedly hiding their involvement in the Serbian military during the breakup of Yugoslavia during the 1990s.

Whittemore declared the mistrial in the Popic case after Patenaude, on behalf of the jury, sent him a note saying the panel was “hopelessly deadlocked” and that deliberations had become “counterproductive and argumentative.”

Patenaude and other jurors later said the panel had split 11-1 in favor of conviction on the first charge and 10-2 for conviction on the second.

The main holdout, Patenaude said, was not persuaded by the positions of fellow jurors after a careful review of evidence, including a timeline the jurors constructed on a dry erase board, charting Popic’s VRS service, based on documentary evidence, including a roster that showed Popic actively involved in his unit in July 1995 when it was committing atrocities.

Human rights investigator Richard Butler testified during the trial that the Zvornik Brigade carried out mass executions of thousands of Muslim men who were fleeing to a Muslim area after the VRS successfully attacked United Nations-sanctioned enclaves.

While Popic was not charged with participating in war crimes, Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Hansen argued to jurors in his summation that the activities of the unit “certainly gives a reason why the defendant would not want to give that information (about his service) to the United States.”

After the mistrial was declared, Hansen was asked if he planned on retrying Popic. “The charges still stand,” he said, refusing to comment further.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Adam Allen said he expects Popic will face another trial around August when three other Serbians are scheduled to be tried.

Allen argued during the trial that Popic was actually a victim of the war, and not a perpetrator. In opening statements, Allen said Popic’s son was killed because he fell in love with a Muslim woman. But the only evidence presented about the death of Popic’s son was testimony from investigators who said Popic told them his son was accidentally shot when the son was serving in the military and was drinking with other Serbian soldiers.

Allen also maintained Popic had actually performed civilian duties, helping with civilian protection, because he was deemed unfit for duty.

This issue was at the heart of the dispute among jurors, according to Patenaude and jurors Karla Steward, 23, of Tampa and Glyssel Santiago, 24, of Lutz.

“A juror was absolutely not changing his mind,” Steward said.

“There was a lot of time and effort put into this case, certainly by the prosecution and the defense, and a lot of time and effort by ourselves,” Patenaude said. “The lack of objectivity (on the part of the holdout juror) was really probably the most frustrating thing… There seemed to be some preconceived notions, as far as frustration with” immigration authorities.

A juror who identified himself as the holdout shared his views with a reporter, but would not give his name. The Tampa Tribune has a policy against quoting unnamed sources, except in limited cases. This case did not meet the criteria.

Patenaude said he finds “most disturbing” that “The United States is certainly not better off because of this.”

He explained he thinks that people who are not forthcoming when seeking entry into the U.S. should not be allowed to stay. “I certainly feel this affects our security,” he said. Popic was “not on trial for war crimes,” Patenaude said, but “it’s 11-1 that he served this group that is a horrible group of people,” the VRS.

After the mistrial, Allen said he and Popic were “pleased with the process and look for the opportunity to retry this matter in the future.” He said he’s confident that at the next trial, the jury will either be deadlocked again or will acquit Popic.

Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837 or esilvestrini@tampatrib.com.

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