Mychal Bell will be sentenced on July 31, but regardless of how much he is sentenced, there is plenty of hope for this to resolved correctly. The Louisiana Supreme Court has already vacated the charge and reduced sentencing for a case much more clear cut than this one. More on that case below. The Mychal Bell jury itself wanted to consider lesser charges. They were hindered from doing so because “both attorneys” – which I read “Reed Walters” – didn’t consent to giving the jury a written copy of the charges and they had to rely upon the judge reading them aloud.
Mychal Bell, 17, could be as old as 40 when released from jail if given the maximum sentence for aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit that crime more than 22 years. He was 16 when the incident took place.
…Defense Attorney Blane Williams said Thursday that an appeal already is planned and that the case may one day end up being discussed in law schools.
“I feel I put on the best defense I could,” he said in response to criticism of not presenting any witnesses or evidence during the trial.
…
During Williams’ closing statements, he alluded to the attention the case has garnered both locally and worldwide.“This is a trial of Mychal Bell,” he said, raising his voice. “Things have a tendency to get blown out of proportion. Step outside of the courtroom, and you’ll see blown out of proportion.”
About 20 minutes after leaving to deliberate, the jurors asked for an explanation of the three lesser offenses aggravated battery, second-degree battery or simple battery that they could convict Bell of instead of aggravated second-degree battery. But because both attorneys didn’t consent to giving the jury a written copy of the charges, 28th Judicial District Court Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. said he could only reread them to jurors.
The La. Supreme Court case that is pertinent is State of Louisiana vs. Jason Helou. Here’s a comparison of the two cases.
| Helou | Bell |
|---|---|
| Accused of being one of three attackers | Accused of being one of 6 attackers. |
| Charge of 2nd degree battery. | Charge of 2nd degree battery. |
| Identified by victim. | Serious conflicts in witness testimony; not identified by victim. |
| Accused allegedly started the altercation and was joined by others. | Accused allegedly started the altercation and was joined by others. |
| Victim transported to hospital by ambulance, treated and quickly released. | Victim transported to hospital by ambulance, treated and quickly released. |
| Unanimous 6 person jury found him guilty. | Unanimous 6 person jury found him guilty. |
| Sentenced to 3 years hard labor; 1 year suspended. | Awaiting sentencing. |
| Upon appeal, issue raised about how badly the victim was injured. | Original jury was swayed by photos, not medical testimony, of Justin Barker’s injuries; definitely room for appeal on these grounds. |
| Case remanded to the trial court for resentencing for simple battery. |
In Louisiana there is a huge range of what consists of “serious bodily injury.” In this case, Justin Barker is considered by the jury to have sustained serious bodily injury, the same way the original Jason Helou jury ruled. But the decision of the Jason Helou jury was vacated because a later court determined that serious bodily injury had not occurred. There’s an excellent chance that will happen with Mychal Bell’s case as well. Before it gets to that point, he may later be ruled to have been inadequately defended, and a variety of other issues may cause the case to get a second hearing.
As to what injuries Barker actually sustained, this Michael David Murphy video has a photo of his hospital discharge papers. Nursing school was a long, long time ago for me, but a quick read of what was visible didn’t show any serious bodily injuries, in my opinion. D.A. Reed Walters emphasized the photos of Barker’s injuries, and I believe he did that to gain an emotional response that a medical report of his injuries would not have garnered. So while I’m disgusted that this could happen at all in my home state, I’m still very hopeful that this will ultimately be treated fairly.
