Plea Deal Reached for 'Jena 6' Teen
Mychal Bell Pleaded Guilty to Second-Degree Battery; He Could Be Released in 8 Months
A black teenager may get out of a juvenile facility in about eight months after a deal was struck Monday with prosecutors in the beating of a white classmate that sparked a major civil rights demonstration amid cries that his treatment was unduly harsh.
Mychal Bell, now 17, originally was charged as an adult with attempted murder in the beating of Justin Barker in December 2006. That charge was reduced before a jury convicted him in June of aggravated second-degree battery. In September, that verdict was thrown out by an appeals court that said Bell should be tried as a juvenile.
Under the deal, Bell pleaded guilty to a juvenile charge of second-degree battery in return for an 18-month sentence with credit for the 10 months he already has served. Without a deal, Bell faced being placed in a juvenile facility until his 21st birthday.
Bell also must pay court costs plus $935 to the Barker family and he must testify truthfully in court if any other of his co-defendants in the Barker beating go to trial.
"This was a way to put a close to an event at a time when everyone had reasons to want it settled," said Louis Scott, one of Bell's lawyers.
Bell is one of a group of teens who came to be known as the "Jena Six" as word spread of their arrests on attempted second-degree murder charges, which could have landed them in prison for decades.
"We were prepared to go forward with the trial, but you have to do what's best for the client," said Carol Powell Lexing, one of Bell's attorneys. A juvenile court trial was to begin later this week.
As part of the deal, Bell will undergo counseling and begin to be reintegrated into the school system, his lawyers said.
Rest of article here.
Just reporting. I'm too mad to really comment.
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2 comments:
It looks like this was an effort to get him to role over on the co-defendants.
Hopefully they won't drag the cases on and perhaps the community (and the country) can try to move forward.
I'm tired of seeing Al Sharpton and all the rest getting unwarranted attention and using the case for their own benefit.
Wow. The entire "Civil Rights Establishment" departs from the problems of their home communities and travel 6, 8, 12 hours to Jena LA for this? Wow again.
I am happy that Mychael Bell admitted that he did indeed assault the guy - even if the sentencing was originally out of line.
For some of you there is an attempt to apply a conditional relationship between the prosecution of the White kids who hung the nooses (charge them with a hate crime) and the actions by Bell and crew which happened SEVERAL MONTHS LATER. But it was never mentioned that THEY should be charged with a hate crime for beating down this one White boy.
I wonder what in 2008 will get inserted upon the "Black Agenda" as a means of distracting our collective focus from the REAL ISSUES plaguing our community?
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