YESTERDAY, the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal vacated the conviction of Mychal Bell, one of the six young men accused of assaulting and beating Justin Barker in a high school fight last December. Bell had been charged and convicted with aggrevated second degree battery, after the district attorney reduced the initial charge of attempted second degree murder. Bell had been charged and convicted as an adult, but according to Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr., Bell should have been tried as a juvenile, an opinion that had been echoed by numerous legal commentators and bloggers.
The ball is now back in the court of the LaSalle Parish district attorney, who may decide to leave Mychal Bell alone, charge him as an adult with attempted murder, or charge him as a juvenile with battery.
Considering the judge’s decision to vacate this conviction against Bell, I find it even more difficult to acknowledge the presence of any cogent “legal strategy” employed by the district attorney, as some have previously suggested. But at this point, given the available information, I hope the district attorney decides to look once again at the evidence in order to determine whether he is ethically and professionally obligated to charge Mychal Bell with a crime. I know some of this is a recapitulation of a previous article, but consider this:
– The only witness who claimed to see Mychal Bell kicking Justin Barker, the crime for which he was eventually convicted, was Justin Cooper, who happens to be one of the young men admittedly responsible for hanging nooses on a tree in the school’s courtyard, a clear and present sign of racial intolerance intended to intimidate and terrorize African-American students who had hoped to enjoy the shade of the tree only a day before.
– Although four students (of the over forty who provided written statements) claimed Bell “threw the first punch,” most of their accounts are riddled with inconsistencies and questionable statements allegedly made outside of school. It seems that the most reasonable testimony was offered by Coach Benjy Shaw, who reported, “I saw Malcolm Shaw hit Justin Barker with his right fist to the right side of Justin’s head, right around the temple,” Lewis wrote. “Justin went down face first, knocked out . . .”
– Most eyewitness accounts describe Barker falling down after a single punch, and Barker has not been able to identify his assailant, which lends credibility to the idea that Barker was suddenly struck from behind.
– As referenced in a previous article, Friends of Justice also reported, “Most eye witnesses can’t identify a single assailant by name. Most of the students who gave eyewitness statements after the December 4 altercation at the school make references to ‘a bunch of black kids’.
THE decision to vacate this charge does not, as others have claimed, prove that those who were alarmed by the nature and the extent of the charges leveled against those six young men were simply overreacting. For many of those closely involved in this case, any semblence of faith in the fairness of the judicial system may have been eroded when Mychal Bell was convicted of those charges in as an adult, despite the fact that Louisiana law clearly states Bell should have been charged as a juvenile and despite the multiple conflicting and ambiguous witness statements. I quote again from the Associated Press:
Under Louisiana law, a juvenile charged with aggravated battery may be charged as an adult only if the attack involved a firearm, but murder and attempted murder charges can be brought in adult court.
Perhaps this is why Reverend B.L. Moran reminded people that the battle is just beginning. Although Mychal Bell’s conviction was thrown out, the case is still very much alive, and five other young men continue to await their day in court, while the rest of the nation looks on.
CenLamar 
Small correction: Judge Mauffrey is the district court judge for Lasalle Parish, while the Tird Circuit is the Court of Appeal in Lake Charles, consisting of 11 judges from Central and SW La. The Third Circuit determined that Bell should have been tried as a juvenile, not Mauffrey, and which judge wrote the opinion is not viewable on their website, presumably b/c it is now a juvenile matter, therefore not public record.
When you decide to break the law you must face the consequences whether you believe you are right or wrong. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great man because he crossed barriers by not advocating violence. I wish there were still believers of his ideologies.
The law says that young man cannot be charged with said crimes. Why? If you read the trial transcript, you’ll notice that the district attorney has absolutely no evidence that proves the these young men conspired to murder or conspired to attempt to murder this white kid. That’s the bottom line. That’s the standard for bringing such a charge. That’s why the young man should not have been tried as an adult. If the district attorney is going to disregard the law in this case, he needs to throw the entire book of statutes for the state of Louisiana out the window and make his own laws. If your sister or wife had been butally raped and the District Attorney decided he wanted to charge the accuser (regardless of his race) with a misdemeanor and no jail time, wouldn’t you want him to follow the statute as opposed to what he wants to do? That’s the point that some of you cannot get through your thick skulls. Nobody is forgetting about anyone. Everyone is simply trying to get the District Attorney, the police, and the school district to go back and do things according to policy and the law. No one has implied that either the Jena 6 or the white kid who got his butt kicked should go unpunished. You won’t find that coming out of anyone’s mouth. How would you like it if you get pulled over for speeding and all of a sudden the officer decides he wants to charge you with reckless driving, fleeing from the scene of a crime, and whatever other trivial charges he comes up with? In a courtroom, who do you think the judge will believe…you or the officer? Chances are, what you have to say won’t go anywhere with the judge. If you don’t believe me, try it! That’s the case here… The District Attorney has done his own thing instead of going by the statute and has gotten this young boy convicted of a crime that he cannot be charged with and a crime that does not coincide with what happened. We live in America. Our legal system must be defined by competetent, objective, and fair district attorneys and judges; otherwise, it’s as trivial as the day is long and we’re all dead ducks.
Here is your change to vote or opininate on the verdict or on OJ……..lol
http://GuiltyORnot.googlepages.com/
Hi!
If the AFRO-AMERICAN leaders can’t tell the difference between a piece of rope being hung on a tree and a REAL, LIVE, IMMORAL BEATING of a HUMAN BEING, the Afro-Americans in this country NEED to find NEW LEADERS!!! I DO BELIEVE that injustices were enacted upon A-As in the past; however, I do NOT believe that THAT gives A-As the RIGHT to EQUATE a rope hung on a tree with an ACTUAL BEATING of a human being! Their leaders are acting like the two things WOULD BALANCE on the scales of JUSTICE, but they do NOT balance! Why don’t these A-A leaders ADMIT that an A-A responded VIOLENTLY and ILLEGALLY to a stupid but NON-VIOLENT threat?
The PAST of A. A.s is NOT and SHOULD NOT BE a license to break our laws. Nor should the leaders try to JUSTIFY a violent, illegal and immoral attack on a human just because the ATTACKER was black!
I am a reident of Lasalle parish and I just want to say that I am appalled at what took place in Jena yesterday. Protesters came and trashed our beautiful little town with litter and treated these boys that nearly killed someone like celebrities by having them sign autographs. I think that was ridiculous, and this is portraying to our children that ganging up and beating someone is ok and you might even get rewarded by having people treat you like a movie star.
I don’t personally know any of the kids involved but I think the protest did more harm than good. It is senseless to think that a whole town has an issue with race from of the actions of 3 teens. It seems that if anyone is racist it is the black organizations and leaders that crave publicity. Clear and simple 6 against 1 is not right, any race should have enough common sense to see that. The boys should be punished. The extent is up to the judicial system. If the sentence seems too harsh, then make a stir or appeal but until then don’t try to make things worse and cause racial tension. I believe there should also be an apology given from someone for all of the trash that was left in the streets. After all there is a law against littering also. I heard someone comment that after the march and protest the town looked like Bourbon Street after Mardi Gras. Lets not forget this is about six boys nearly killing one. No matter what race or color we cant let our children think this is ok.
This situation is very sad, however my thoughts are on the ratio. If there were six white kids on one black it would be considered a hate crime. Why does it not have the same effect if 6 black kids are on one white? Ken , in PA
This situation is very sad, however my thoughts are on the ratio. If there were six white kids on one black it would be considered a hate crime. Why is it not have the same effect if 6 black kids are on one white? Ken, VA
We all did stupid things as youngsters, and these six did something stupid. I feel for them getting arrested, but their actions WERE racially motivated and it SHOULD therefore be considered a hate crime. Pure and simple. Sorry guys, it is what it is.
Welcome to another version of poor poor Blacks. 6 against 1 is Attempted Murder. White, Black, Yellow or Green.
It is just another example unedjucated Blacks and poor parenting. Keep it up Black America!
Blacks beat Whites Bad! Whites Beat Blacks or say the “N” word and get Jessy, Get Farrakan and get That Nappy headed Preacher and fight the injustice. how about get Ophra to invest in her own people, That is injustice.
Well, we are all americans we all commet some type of
crime as a kid or a adult that are still under the covers lets make them public?We all need to repent and ask god for forgiveness and live life ordinance to
his word and all this hate, murder,robbery would stop.
What makes this kid so bad that his bond is denied we
as the justice system let murders,drug dealers,rapest,child molesters,D.U.I.S out on bond And they all end up getting aressted on the same charge.(FREE MYCHALL BELL)
I’m appalled about Jena’s justice system. Jena’s prosecutor failure to apply equal justice across racial lines. The problem starts with Jena’s prosecuting attorney threats, use of a pin to destroy their lives. Jena’s prosecuting attorney failed to prosecute students who hung the hangman’s noose, clearly a sign of racial hate. Jena failed to prosecute the individual with the shotgun, this individual left and return with a shotgun. Jena failed to prosecute the individuals that beat the black men at a party.
JENA is a racist city…
I just want to say that this is ridiculous the six guys should be punished and they deserved what they had to,and i think its ridiculous that the students were treated like a MOVIE STARS ,when they almoust killed a kid ,,,,but why???why they didnt beat up a balck peron???exacly here is the point its all bouth the racial segregation !!