In a decision made public on Friday, a federal judge denied a motion to acquit white supremacist Matthew Hale, saying there was sufficient evidence for a federal jury that convicted him of soliciting the murder of a judge.
“This is a case involving an intelligent, educated defendant who tried to walk a very fine line, soliciting another person to commit a crime of violence but doing so in terms designed to make it appear that he was only discussing abstract philosophical concepts,” wrote U.S. District Judge James Moody.
The jury convicted Hale in April of soliciting his security chief, who was working with the FBI, to kill U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow in anger over her order in 2002 to change the name of his group after it lost a trademark-infringement suit.