Jury acquits man of making racial threat

ALFRED – A jury has acquitted a former Biddeford man whose conviction last year of making a racially charged threat against a black candidate for mayor had been overturned on appeal.

The York County Superior Court jury deliberated for about three hours before returning its verdict Wednesday in the trial of Robert Kalex. Kalex, 37, who now lives in Portland, was convicted in May 2001 for threatening to shoot Rory Holland, 48, in front of Holland’s South Street home.

Holland, who is black, claimed Kalex in July 2000 pulled up alongside him in a pickup truck and said, “You’re lucky I don’t have a gun right now, or I’d shoot you.”

Holland was a mayoral candidate at the time, and the alleged threat came after a Halloween episode during which Kalex and a friend dressed in Ku Klux Klan costumes and paraded in front of Holland’s home.

The Supreme Judicial Court threw out Kalex’s conviction and 120-day jail sentence, citing the trial court’s refusal to let jurors hear evidence of Holland’s alleged reputation for untruthfulness.

That characterization was a centerpiece of the second trial.

“I was permitted to get into evidence what some other people thought of Mr. Holland’s reputation,” said John Paul DeGrinney, Kalex’s attorney.

During the two days of testimony, DeGrinney accused Holland of changing his testimony, prompting Holland to respond, “You’re putting words in my mouth.”

DeGrinney said he took pains to shift the jury’s focus away from his client’s use of offensive symbols.