Jena Six Update: Mychal Bell's Conviction Is Overturned
September 15, 2007
This post, written by Garlin II, originally appeared on Brave New Films
One of the Jena 6 is nowfree closer to free.
His conspiracy charge was already thrown out. Now, his case will be handled exclusively in juvenile court, which is where it should have been all along.
AP reports:
Conviction in Jena case overturned
Judges rule teen should not have been tried as adult in racially tinged case
The Associated Press
Updated: 7:40 p.m. ET Sept 14, 2007
JENA, La. - A state appeals court Friday tossed out the aggravated battery conviction that could have sent a black teenager to prison for 15 years in last year's beating of a white classmate in the racially tense Louisiana town of Jena.
Mychal Bell, who was 16 at the time of the December beating, should not have been tried as an adult on the battery charge, the state Third Circuit Court of Appeal in Lake Charles ruled.
Bell is one of six black Jena High School students charged in an attack on fellow student Justin Barker, and one of five originally charged as adults with attempted second-degree murder.
The charges brought widespread criticism that blacks were being treated more harshly than whites after racial confrontations and fights at their school.
Attorney Louis Scott of Monroe said he didn't know whether Bell, whose bond was set at $90,000, would get out of jail immediately.
"It means that at the present time all charges are dismissed," Scott said. "But we don't know what approach the prosecution is going to take -- whether they will re-charge him, where he would have to be subjected to bail all over again or not.
"We're working on that right now," he said.
One of the Jena 6 is now
His conspiracy charge was already thrown out. Now, his case will be handled exclusively in juvenile court, which is where it should have been all along.
AP reports:
Conviction in Jena case overturned
Judges rule teen should not have been tried as adult in racially tinged case
The Associated Press
Updated: 7:40 p.m. ET Sept 14, 2007
JENA, La. - A state appeals court Friday tossed out the aggravated battery conviction that could have sent a black teenager to prison for 15 years in last year's beating of a white classmate in the racially tense Louisiana town of Jena.
Mychal Bell, who was 16 at the time of the December beating, should not have been tried as an adult on the battery charge, the state Third Circuit Court of Appeal in Lake Charles ruled.
Bell is one of six black Jena High School students charged in an attack on fellow student Justin Barker, and one of five originally charged as adults with attempted second-degree murder.
The charges brought widespread criticism that blacks were being treated more harshly than whites after racial confrontations and fights at their school.
Attorney Louis Scott of Monroe said he didn't know whether Bell, whose bond was set at $90,000, would get out of jail immediately.
"It means that at the present time all charges are dismissed," Scott said. "But we don't know what approach the prosecution is going to take -- whether they will re-charge him, where he would have to be subjected to bail all over again or not.
"We're working on that right now," he said.
