[Ppnews] Charge against another Jena six student reduced

[Political Prisoner News]

Charge against another black Louisiana teen in attack on white student reduced
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/11/america/NA-GEN-US-School-Fight.php

The Associated Press
Tuesday, September 11, 2007

JENA, Louisiana: Prosecutors reduced the 
attempted murder charge against another in a 
group of black Louisiana high school students 
whose criminal charges after the beating a white 
classmate drew protests of racism and unequal justice.

Robert Bailey Jr. pleaded not guilty Monday to 
aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit 
aggravated battery. He was among five of the six 
teens originally charged as adults with attempted 
murder. The sixth was charged in juvenile court.

The victim of the Dec. 4 beating, Justin Barker, 
was treated at a hospital for injuries and 
released the same day. The motive for the attack 
was never established, but it came amid tense 
race relations in Jena, a mostly white town of 
3,000 in north-central Louisiana. Three nooses 
had been hung in a tree at the school earlier, 
and the students involved were briefly suspended.

Mychal Bell, the only member of the "Jena Six" to 
be tried so far, was convicted of aggravated 
battery; the judge threw out his conspiracy 
conviction. Prosecutors also dropped the 
attempted murder account to battery last week in 
the cases of Carwin Jones and Theo Shaw when they were arraigned.

That left Bryant Purvis the only youth yet to be 
arraigned and still charged as an adult with attempted second-degree murder.

A conviction for attempted second-degree murder 
requires 10 to 50 years at hard labor without 
suspension, probation or parole. Aggravated 
battery can be punished with up to 15 years and a $10,000 (€7,200) fine.

Bell's attorney Bob Noel said he expects an 
appeals court to overturn his client's battery conviction.

He has accused LaSalle Parish District Attorney 
Reed Walters of using "bait-and-switch" tactics 
to try Bell as an adult. 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.

Civil rights activist The Rev. Al Sharpton wrote 
to Gov. Kathleen Blanco and the state board of 
ethics on Monday asking for an investigation of 
the district attorney's actions in the case.

"The prosecutor from the beginning of this case 
has seemingly employed less than ethical and just 
legal tactics in over zealous attempts to have 
Mychal Bell unjustly convicted," Sharpton's letter said.

Sharpton, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and other black 
leaders have called for a rally in Jena on Sept. 
20, the day of Bell's sentencing, to protest the teens' treatment.





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