Cross-burning case delayed until April

Two brothers accused of burning a cross in the yard of an interracial couple in Nova Scotia are scheduled to enter pleas on April 19.

The case was put over because the Crown prosecutor was not available.

Nathan Neil Rehberg, 20, and Justin Chad Rehberg, 19, appeared briefly in court in Windsor on Friday. The brothers, both of Avondale, are charged with criminal harassment, public incitement of hatred, mischief and uttering threats.

The men are accused of erecting a two-metre-high cross with a hanging noose in front of the home of Michelle Lyon their father's cousin and Shayne Howe, her partner.

Lyon and Howe said they also heard someone yelling racial slurs at them and their children, who were inside at the time.

Outside the courthouse, Lyon said she was disappointed by Friday's outcome.

"We'd hoped that a plea would be entered today," she said. "You want this swiftly done and dealt with but there's nothing you can really do."

She said Howe and their five children are still uneasy in their Poplar Grove home.

"We have an alarm system now and we just take extra precautions," Lyon said.

Howe saidhe wasbecomingfrustrated with the justice system.

"Today should have been a plea," he said. "We should have known how things are going and now we're just back on track and have to wait another month to see what happens."

Howe said he would not miss the brothers' next court appearance.

"I still think about it constantly, all the time. I look out my yard and stuff," he said. "I'm still stressed out a little bit but in time, hopefully I'll be able to get past it and once justice is served maybe I might feel a little bit better after that."

The Rehbergs were granted bail last week and were ordered to stay with their grandparents on Old Brooklyn Road. They must obey a 9 p.m. curfew, avoid drugs and alcohol, and stay away from Lyon, Howe and their children.