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<h1><b>Charges reduced for 2 of the 'Jena
Six'</b></h1><font size=2>
<a href="http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-34/1188925171133910.xml&storylist=louisiana#continue" eudora="autourl">
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-34/1188925171133910.xml&storylist=louisiana#continue</a>
<br><br>
</font><font size=4 color="#FF0000"><b><i>[So this means potentially 22+
years and not 80 years...hmmmm]<br><br>
</i></b></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2>9/4/2007, 11:53 a.m.
CT <br>
<b>The Associated Press</b> <br><br>
JENA, La. (AP) Charges against two of the six black teenagers
originally arrested for attempted murder following an attack on a white
schoolmate last year were reduced Tuesday to aggravated second-degree
battery.<br><br>
Carwin Jones and Theo Shaw are two of six black Jena High School students
known as the "Jena Six" who have been charged in connection
with the attack on Justin Barker. Five of the six were originally charged
with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit that crime,
carrying sentences of up to 80 years in prison.<br><br>
Some black residents and civil rights advocates from around the country
complained that the charges were unfairly harsh.<br><br>
Another of the six, Mychal Bell, saw his charges reduced to aggravated
second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit same. He was tried and
found guilty and could be sentenced to
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2 color="#FF0000">22 1/2
years</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2> on Sept. 20.<br><br>
Jones' and Shaw's charges were reduced Tuesday to the same charges on
which Bell was convicted.<br><br>
The attack on Barker, 18, came amid tense race relations in Jena, a
mostly white town of 3,000 in north central Louisiana where racial
tensions have grown since incidents that started last school year at Jena
High.<br><br>
The morning after a black student sat under a tree on campus where white
students traditionally congregated, three nooses lynching symbols in
the old South were hung in the tree. Students accused of placing them
were suspended from the school for a short period, but tensions
increased. Fights between black and white students were reported on and
off campus.<br><br>
Then on Dec. 4, six black students were accused of jumping Barker,
beating and kicking him at the high school.<br><br>
Also awaiting trial are Robert Bailey Jr., Bryant Purvis and an unnamed
juvenile. Juvenile proceedings are closed to the media, so the status of
that trial and the charges are unknown.<br><br>
___<br><br>
Information from: Alexandria Daily Town Talk,
<a href="http://www.thetowntalk.com">http://www.thetowntalk.com</a>
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