On November 12, 1988, Mulugeta Seraw, an Ethiopian exchange student, was fatally beaten with a baseball bat by Kenneth Murray ("Death") Mieske, Kyle Brewster, and Steve Strasser in southeast Portland, Oregon. Mieske, Brewster, and Strasser were members of the white supremacist organizations East Side White Pride and White Aryan Resistance. Mieske stated that Seraw's murder was racially motivated. Brewster and Strasser were subsequently convicted of manslaughter and assault, and Mieske was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder.
In October 1990, Seraw's father, Engedaw Berhanu, represented pro bono by lawyers from the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-defamation League, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Tom Metzger, leader of the White Aryan Resistance, and his son John. Berhanu was awarded $12.5 million.
The collection consists of the transcript for the civil trial of Berhanu v. Metzger, wherein Ergendaw Behanu, represented by Southern Poverty Law Center lawyers Morris Dees, Elden Rosenthal, and Richard Cohen successfully sued Tom and John Metzger for the wrongful death of Berhanu's son, Mulueta Seraw. The collection also includes filing notices and certificates.
Box 1 contains filings and certificates, transcripts of the proceedings for October 8-15, 1990, and associated court reporter's certificates. Box 2 contains transcripts of the proceedings for October 16-22, 1990, and associated court reporter's certificates.
This collection is open for research.
Berhanu v. Metzger trial transcript, Coll 785, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.
Gift of Elden Rosenthal, January 8, 2019 (RL2019-007)