N.S. man pleads not guilty in cross-burning case

Aman charged with inciting racial hatred after a cross was burnedon thelawn of an interracial couplenear Windsor,N.S., nine months ago pleaded not guilty Monday in provincial Supreme Court.

Nathan Rehberg, 21, appeared in a Kentville courtroom to face charges ofpublic incitement of hatred, criminal harassment,mischief and uttering threats.

He's being tried by a judge, without a jury.

"As soon as I found out if I'm guilty, I'll talk," Rehberg told CBC News outside the courtroom.

Michelle Lyon, who is white, and Shayne Howe, who is black, founda two-metre-high cross with a noose on it burning outside their Poplar Grove, N.S., home on Feb. 21.They also heard someone shouting racial slurs.

Their five children, between the ages of two and 17, were home at the time.

In court on Monday, defence lawyer Luke Craggs brought up Howe's past, which includes charges of robbery and fraud.

"Obviously he was uncomfortable with the questionsI was asking, which is fine," Craggs said outside the courthouse. "It's not pleasant to be up there feeling like you've got sharks swimming around you."

Howe said whatever he had done in the past should have no bearing on the current case.

"What matters is what happened to my family on our property and the worry we have to go through because of this," he told CBC News.

Craggs also pointed out discrepanciesbetween Howe's statement to police and what he said on the stand. Howe initially told police there was a rope tied to the cross he and hisfamily now say it was a noose.

"Something happened. Then at a certain point, the witnesses, they talked about it and talked about it and it morphed into something it wasn't," said Craggs.

On Friday,Rehberg's brother Justin, 20, was convicted of inciting hatred.Justin Rehberg had earlier pleaded guilty to criminal harassment. He will be sentenced for both Dec. 14.

It was the first time a cross-burning has been recognized as a hate crime in Canada.