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WORLD / America
Judge denies request to free Jena teen
(AP)
Updated: 2007-09-22 15:25
JENA?- A judge on Friday denied a request to release a teenager whose
arrest in the beating of a white classmate sparked this week's civil
rights protest in Louisiana. Mychal Bell's request to be freed while an
appeal is being reviewed was rejected at a juvenile court hearing,
effectively denying him any chance at immediate bail, a person familiar
with the case told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of
anonymity because juvenile court proceedings are closed.
Melissa Bell, center, leaves after a hearing for her son Mychal Bell at
LaSalle Parish Courthouse in Jena, La., September. 21, 2007. [AP]?
Earlier, Bell's mother emerged from the hearing in tears, refusing to
comment.
Bell, 17, was convicted of aggravated second-degree battery, which could
have led to 15 years in prison. But his conviction was thrown out by a
state appeals court that said he could not be tried on the charge as an
adult because he was 16 at the time of the beating.
"This is why we did not cancel the march," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, an
organizer of Thursday's rally along with the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the
NAACP. "When they overturned Mychal's conviction, everyone said we won."
Jackson said in an interview Friday that federal intervention is needed
to protect Bell's rights. Sharpton said he has scheduled meetings in
Washington with congressional leaders to discuss the Jena Six case.
At a separate closed hearing Friday, a judge refused a request from
defense attorneys to remove Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. from Bell's case,
said John Jenkins, father of one of Bell's co-defendants.
Defense lawyers have complained that Mauffray set a high bail for Bell --
$90,000 -- prior to his conviction in the Barker beating. Mauffray had
cited Bell's criminal record, which included juvenile arrests for battery
and damage to property, in setting the bail.
On Thursday, the case drew thousands of protesters to this tiny central
Louisiana town to rally against what they see as a double standard of
justice for blacks and whites. The march was one of the biggest civil
rights demonstrations in years.
The case dates to August 2006, when a black Jena High School student
asked the principal whether blacks could sit under a shade tree that was
a frequent gathering place for whites. He was told yes. But nooses
appeared in the tree the next day.
Three white students were suspended but not criminally prosecuted.
LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters has said he could find no
state law covering the act.
The incident was followed by fights between blacks and whites that
culminated in the attack on Justin Barker, who was knocked unconscious on
school grounds. According to court testimony, his face was swollen and
bloodied, but he was able to attend a school function that night.
Five of the teens were originally charged with attempted second-degree
murder -- charges that have since been reduced for four of them. The
sixth was booked as a juvenile on sealed charges.
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