A FLORIDA judge has ordered that tattoos on the face and neck of a neo-Nazi on trial for murder be covered with make-up during his trial, as they might prejudice a jury against him.
John Allen Ditullio has a 6in swastika tattooed under his right ear, barbed wire inked down the right side of his face and an extreme vulgarity on his neck.
Judge Michael Andrews ruled that the state must pay a make-up artist $150 a day during Ditullio's trial to cover the black ink.
Andrews, acting on a request by Ditullio's lawyer, ruled that the tattoos are potentially offensive and could influence a jury's opinion in the state's death penalty case against the 23-year-old accused of donning a gas mask, breaking into a neighbour's home and stabbing two people, killing one of them.
Ditullio's lawyer Bjorn Brunvand said: "Whenever someone is facing the death penalty, they should get a fair trial."
This is how they do it in Florida, but I remember a case in Texas a couple years ago which was handled a little differently. The guy was charged with a hate crime, facing the death penalty, and the judge ordered that he uncover the huge tattoo on his chest depicting the lynching of a black man. He was eventually executed. I wonder if Mr. Ditullio will fare any better.
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