The Jena 6: Mychal Bell's Criminal History

Laura:

The judge has yet to go through the others’ criminal records yet. I suspect one or two of them have criminal juvenile records, but nothing like Mychal Bell’s. Robert Bailey was involved with almost every racially charged incident in town, so I’m skeptical that he has a squeaky clean record.

I guess we can only wait and see how everything turns out. I hope the judge looks past the race issue (which I suspect he will) and makes the right decision. I know you and me differ on what the “right decision” is.

Btw, did you read J.P. Mauffray’s comment about the evidence:

“The weight of the evidence against the defendant: Mauffray said it was “pretty weighty” considering the jury convicted Bell.”

Weighty? That’s pretty funny.

Laura:

I only know who a couple of the jurors were. They both have no relation or friendship to Reed Walters as far as I know.

I plan on looking into this further for you. It’s something I don’t know much about yet. “Jena Person 2″ would know more about this than I would. Can you put anything here, Jena Person 2?

I know a relative of one of the jurors, and according to the relative, the juror has received death threats.

This is just a simple observation being from Jena, but any person running for a public office (like district attorney) is gonna get out and “poke the bushes” to try and win support. With the entire parish only having around 13,000 people in it, it’s very easy for him to know people in the jury pool.

Again, I’m no scholar of law, but isn’t this the way it works:

There is a pool of jurors and the prosecution and the defense each “weed out” individuals during jury selection. I saw this on Devil’s Advocate, but am not sure if this is the way it actually works or not. If this IS the case, the defense team had as much control over the jury selection as the prosecution did. If this is the case, it would mean that an impartial jury would partly rest on the shoulders of the weak Mychal Bell defense team. But again, that’s only theory.

It’s strange how you don’t see any of those people who are so angry about the Jena 6 situation saying anything on this article.

…very strange indeed….

This is truly outrageous! My thoughts and prayers go out to all of these young men and their families. You never know when it could be your turn.

Fedup-
As stated in another post, a juvenile’s past criminal history must be introduced by the defense first. Don’t blaim the DA if his defense attorney did a piss poor job.

When you live in a society where white people have the final say its very hard for us african americans to get a far trail.—Fedup

This is a terribly racist statement. It implies that (1) only white people have authority in government; local, state, or federal (does that mean that you think that other races aren’t intelligent or competent enough to get jobs in government?) and (2) that white people are racist…i note that you did not say “some” or even “most”..you simply said white people, a direct implication that all white people are racist. This ITSELF is a RACIST statement.

Afterthought-
African Americans have never been entitled to anything in this country? They get jobs that they are less qualified for based on their race. They get into schools with less qualifications and receive more in the way of scholarships. These are just a few examples of Affirmative Action, something that you apparently have never hear of.

Laura-
Thank you for attaching that sidenote to this silly comment.

Lets Be Real-
Your right, the playing field has not been leveled, in many cases African Americans actually have more access to things as a result of Affirmative Action. If a white student and black student with the same grades, extracurriculars, ect. are vying for the last spot on the college admissions list, the black student will be accepted first, and that is just a fact. As for me not responding to the other part of the idiotic post from fed up, where in there does he mention the previous charges being racially motivated. He just illustrates how idiotic he is by saying that his prior record does not display a history of violence. I didn’t comment on this because laura did a great job of discussion with him the meaning of “battery” as a legal term.
And by the way, you are correct, these boys lives never will be the same. They chose to commit a crime and that will forever follow them. Hopefully the horrible act of hanging the nooses will follow those boys as well. Unfortunately, hanging nooses isn’t a crime so they will not have a record following them that will serve to change their lives forever.

CommonSense,

Do you actually believe it is easier for African Americans to get ahead than white people?

Do you believe Affirmative Action has helped more black people than Racism has hurt?

I thought everyone knew AA helps white women more than any other demographic, but I guess not.

Wow. As a first time reader of this site, I have to say that I am very disappointed in what I am reading. However, I do feel a need to add my two cents.
Racism exists…..point blank. SOME African Americans are racist… SOME caucasians are racist…. SOME asians are racist… and on an on it continues. Affirmative action is a reaction to racism which has not only benefitted African Americans but also Asians, Hispanics and YES Caucasians as well. And before we argue that fact, I know a few Caucasians who have benefitted, myself being one of them…. so this is a dead issue. That being said, let’s get to the real issue. Does any individual who participates in a school fight — AND YES THAT IS WHAT THIS IS REGARDLESS OF WHAT CAUSED IT — deserve 22 years in prison??? Second degree murder?? come on. I am sure that some of the individuals participating in this debate have been in at least one fight in their lifetime… the only difference is that most of us were not arrested for it. But let’s say that you were… do you really believe that 22 years is what you should get? Let’s truly put this in perspective. I am in no way making excuses for ANY of the individuals involved (on both sides)… this whole situation is hideous but if we are going to punish someone at least let the punishment fit the crime. Was the trial held in a racist area? from reading articles such as the excerpt I am posting at the end of this comment (from pww.org) and all other overseas newspapers that reported on this … I would say YES, BUT how is arguing this OPINION going to help Mychall now? Does his history play a part? maybe.. but before we argue on that fact, do we know EXACTLY what happened? Battery could have been just another fight. Property Damage could mean that he keyed someones car. Is everyone on this site trying to tell me that we do not know of a situation where this is possible??? (for example, someone gets caught up in a love triangle that resulted in a fight and/or property damage in which the police gets involved.) If yes is your answer then you are lucky. Please get ALL of the facts before we rant and rave on and on about nothing.
And to Mr. Black –> M Vick??? Tupac?? Biggie??? Why are we even mentioning them?? Individuals from ALL races have committed some horrible crime at some point in time. So your point on bringing them into this is DUMB. And YES many people in todays society have not been enslaved themselves BUT there are those who have felt (and still feeling) the wrath of the KKK, skinheads and other incidents of TRUE racism.
Africa is not the only place where injustice occurs. As an example of this, I met a man a few years ago, who is now about 35 years old, who showed me a thin scar around his neck (and the newspaper articles reporting this incident) from being hung from a tree with a fishline because HE WAS the “INITIATION” for a caucasian person joining the KKK… He was lucky because they did not completely hang him… they allowed the tip of his toes to touch the ground. He was rescued by a passer-by before his life was extinguished. IT happened in the US… right under OUR noses. So Before you start arguing about what is being done in other Countries, you need to at least admit to what is happening in your own. How can we help others when we can’t even help ourselves?

Terrorizing??? He was on a path to “KILL”?? How do you know this? Can you see his future? Hell can you see mine?? cuz I would love to know what PATH my life is heading towards. Saying mean things will not help the issue and right now your comments are just UGLY. There are individuals who were once troubled teens that have gone on to become JUDGES, LAWYERS, POLICE OFFICERS, and other outstanding professionals as well as a dominating force in their communities. Judge Mathis is a perfect example of this….

To all -> I am hoping that from henceforth statments of substance will be written.

Here is the excerpt that I copied from http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/11397/1/141/

“The fight was the culmination of a series of racial incidents starting when whites responded to Black students sitting under the “white tree” at their school by hanging three nooses from the tree. The white jury and white prosecutor and all white supporters of the white victim were all on one side of the courtroom. The Black defendant, 17-year-old Mychal Bell, and his supporters were on the other. “

Enough is Enough:

Thank you for the link.

Looks like I have more emailing to do. This article, like nearly every other article I’ve seen so far, contains one-sided bias and reports that are completely false.

Here is a report with more direct quotes from the courtroom from the day of the hearing.

http://www.thejenatimes.net/home_page_graphics/home.html

*correction of above post*

Jena – > Can you provide links/excerpts to articles that you believe are more accurate? I’ve only heard of this case for the VERY FIRST TIME last night via email… Where the link I provided above was one of the many listed.

Thanks

No one has brought this to light.

THINK about it.

If the town of Jena…..DA Reed Walters….and Judge J.P. Mauffray are see eager to convict black people in our community,

WHY

did Mychal Bell get ONLY parole for 4 violent criminal acts?

This is his FIFTH violent criminal act, this is his FIFTH chance to turn his life around. I’m of the VERY strong opinion that if my town is as most of you defending the Jena 6 characterize it, that the DA and Judge would have slapped the book at him the FIRST time he committed a crime.

Have you ever thought about that?

Trumped up charges? Show me PROOF that Mychal Bells previous charges are trumped up. It’s plain and simple, some people (white & black) absolutely refuse to take responsibility for their own actions…and when you have people like ENOUGH IS ENOUGH trying to convince people that every bad thing you do is justified because the white person is oppressing you, it makes it very easy to just…do whatever you want.

….and apparently that is just what Mychal Bell has done.

I’m also of the opinion that people like YOU ENOUGH IS ENOUGH and others in your community are responsible for some of these young black kids who have a blatant disregard for the law & justice system, simply because they have been taught by people like you that it’s the “white man”‘s system and you might as well just give up.

Many in the white community have racist issues, but many in the black community do not want people in their community to take responsibility for their own actions. Both sides continue a cyclical system of racism. If both issues could be worked out, racism would be much less existent.

I can’t believe all of this…. when I first heard about what was going on in Jena I was outraged and distraught. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and now I come on here and read this. People please haven’t you paid attention to anything in your history classes? If you ask me this just looks like history is repeating itself.

Enough Is Enough I feel you all the way but for James black to sit on here and say that they deserve to do time in jail does not make any since. From an outsider looking in… Dang…. are you involved in it? You sound real bitter and have no sympathy for these young men. How would you feel if it was your child going through this and they told him he was looking at 22 years in prison for a school yard fight? I don’t care what anybody says that’s outrageous and unjust. Convicted felons don’t even get that much time in prison, and they have done way more and worst crimes then this. For goodness sake it was a school fight!! No one deserves to go to jail for something as simple and petty as that.

Did they lock up that Caucasian boy who beat up Robert Bailey at the all white party??? NO they did nothing. Did they lock up the person who pulled the shotgun out on them at the store? No they did nothing. From the articles I read there was a school coach there talking to Justin Barker and he said that it was not Bell and in fact it was someone else. Why wasn’t he called as a witness?

http://www.michaeldavidmurphy.com is where I got most of my info from.

What does his prior record have to do with this case???? Not a darn thing, this is a school fight not a homicide. Now I can see if someone actually died and they had to pull background records of all the parties involved. But for that to be done for a school fight was a waste of taxpayer’s money.

Why was it reported that Justin and his family was eating lunch with the so called witnesses? If you ask me I think it’s all a lie and just another way of putting African Americans back in check.

And as for the attention this has created…. Your right people are going to go and protest. Forget the 10 people that were there the black population that is there are probably afraid to take a stand because of the fact that they do live in that town and have to deal with those types of people and we don’t. How are you so sure that he will only serve 1year in jail and the rest on probation? Even 1 year in prison is still harsh like I said it was a school yard fight.

EITHER WAY YOU LOOK AT IT …..WHATS RIGHT IS RIGHT AND WHATS WRONG IS WRONG!!!!

MY HEART GOES OUT TO THE JENA 6 BOYS AND THERE FAMILIES AND NO ONE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD BE SUBJECTED TO SUCH HARSH PUNISHMENT FOR SOMETHING PETY AS THAT. AND YES I SAID PETY!!!

AND YES, YOU SPELLED PETTY WRONG TWICE

THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!-

You are right, your spelling is not in question. They often say, however, that grammar and spelling along with basic mathematical ability are a good judge of general intelligence….I am not implying that you are not intelligence, just that simply clerical errors like that may detract from the argument you are trying to make.

“People please haven’t you paid attention to anything in your history classes? If you ask me this just looks like history is repeating itself.”
How couldn’t we? Every history book I had in high school devoted 3/4 of their pages to black history while summing up the Cold War in less than a chapter.

“You sound real bitter and have no sympathy for these young men. How would you feel if it was your child going through this and they told him he was looking at 22 years in prison for a school yard fight?”
No, I don’t have much sympathy. If my son and his friends jumped a kid, I would tell him to come outside and square up one on one with me because real men don’t gangbeat people. When I was in school, there were no gang beatings, if kids had disagreements, they solved it one on one. The danged level is raised when that many kids are going after one kid, fortunately he wasn’t injured worse. As far as the 22 years in prison, why don’t you relax until he is actually sentenced?

“Did they lock up that Caucasian boy who beat up Robert Bailey at the all white party???”
Actually, that caucasian boy plead guily to simply assualt. Stop reading biased, one-sided, blog sites. They are clearly not providing you with the whole picture.

“What does his prior record have to do with this case???? Not a darn thing, this is a school fight not a homicide. Now I can see if someone actually died and they had to pull background records of all the parties involved. But for that to be done for a school fight was a waste of taxpayer’s money.”
His priors were introduced by his own defense team, because that is law when dealing with juveniles. Also, four previous offense that indicate a history of violence coupled with a fifth (also violent) offense paint a pretty disturbing picture of this kind that has apparently now become a martyr.

“Why was it reported that Justin and his family was eating lunch with the so called witnesses? If you ask me I think it’s all a lie and just another way of putting African Americans back in check. ”
What valid media source reported this? Please let everyone in here know.

“Even 1 year in prison is still harsh like I said it was a school yard fight”
I don’t know where you went to school, but where I am from, 6 boys beating one kid is hardly a normal schoolyard fight.

You, like many others, may want to consider looking at outside sources for information as opposed to spewing out the unvalidated information you are getting from michaeldavidmurphy.com

AND YES I KNOW I SPELLED BLACK WRONG……ON PURPOSE

COMMON SENSE!!!
YES I KNOW I SPELLED BLACK WRONG ON PURPOSE……THANKS

THIS IS AN OUTRAGE SAYS: “ANYWAY IF YOU WERE PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT I WROTE PRIOR TO THIS, I WROTE WHERE I GOT OF MY INFO FROM. MAYBE YOU NEED TO GO BACK AND RE-READ WHAT I WROTE THE FIRST TIME”

COMMON SENSE ORIGINALLY WROTE: “You, like many others, may want to consider looking at outside sources for information as opposed to spewing out the unvalidated information you are getting from michaeldavidmurphy.com”

THIS IS AN OUTRAGE SAYS: “GRANTED BELL HAD A PRIOR BACKGROUND BUT WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER BOYS THAT IS IN QUESTION. DO YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT THE PUNISHMENT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT ISSUING IS REALLY SUITABLE?”

Bell is the only one who has been convicted or stood trial at this point. The others are juveniles, and it has been stated here already that a juvenile’s priors cannot be brought up unless their defense team does so. So no one knows whether or not they have priors. And if they don’t, they probably will not face the same prospective punishment as Bell.

***PLEASE KNOW THE RELEVANT BACKGROUND INFORMATION OR ELSE YOUR POSTINGS WILL REMAIN TO BE COMPLETELY SPECULATIVE AND IRRELEVANT TO THE DISCUSSION****

Ok look…. I am not going to sit here and go back and fourth with you about my grammar or my spelling mistakes. I said what I said and I meant just that! What I wrote about is clearly MY OPINION about the whole situation and what you say towards my opinion is not important to me. I am not hear to debate with you or anyone else as in who is right and who is wrong in this allegation but to simply express my feelings and give MY OPINION about it, which I am entitled to do. If you agree or disagree with my opinion still won’t change the fact of what is going on right now.

Once again “I DO NOT FEEL THAT THE PUNISHMENT FITS THE CRIME.” And you can take that for what it is worth. My opinion does not reflect on race, I don’t care if you were black, white, purple, or green it still don’t matter. I will stand by saying “it is a harsh punishment for something like that.”

And if you’re wondering I am bi-racial so I really don’t have a side as far as race is concern.

I’ve still yet to hear an answer to my burning question:

If the town of Jena is a town full of racial hatred, as many of you describe, why did Mychal Bell get FOUR chances before this one? Why was he allowed to commit four violent criminal acts before the DA finally slapped it to him?

Have any of you thought of this?

A town full or racism would have slapped the book at him the FIRST time, maybe the second…but this is the FIFTH!!!

Seriously think about it…

Where is the Justice:

“I MEAN COME ON WHO GETS 22 YEARS IN PRISON FOR A SCHOOL FIGHT????”

I don’t know, you tell me. I’ve never heard of it before. Even Mychal Bell, who’s YET to be sentenced.

And again, it wasn’t a school fight. It was a six on one beating. If this is what YOU call a fight, I’m very sorry your perception is skewed. A fight is when people are facing each other. This was underhanded and done when the guy was turned away from the attacker, then the rest was done when he was unconscious. You call that a fight?

What if you were in the hospital under sedation and I walked in and started punching you? Would this be a fight?

I don’t see your logic. Please explain.

WHERE IS THE JUSTICE:

“WERE YOU THERE TO SEE THAT HE WAS PUNCHED FROM BEHIND AND THAT HE WAS STILL BEING ATTACKED AS HE LAY ON THE GROUND UNCONSCIOUS??? OR ARE YOU GETTING THIS FROM ARTICLES THAT YOU READ JUST AS WELL AS EVERYBODY ELSE?”
Not from articles, from multiple testimonies given during Mychal Bell’s trial.

“I HONESTLY DON’T BELIEVE THAT SIX KIDS JUMPED ON THIS ONE STUDENT BECAUSE “IN MY OPINION” HE WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS HE WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD OR SERIOUSLY INJURED IF HE WAS BEATEN AS BADLY AS YOU ARE TRYING TO SAY HE WAS…….ANOTHER QUESTION IF HE WAS HURT SO BADLY FROM BEING JUMPED BY 6 PEOPLE WHY WAS HE TREATED AND RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL THAT SAME DAY THEN SEEN OUT HAVING FUN ACTING LIKE HIS NORMAL SELF LATER ON THAT DAY????”

First, witness testimony verifies that six kids jumped him, maybe they just weren’t very tough and didn’t beat him as bad as they possibly could have. But he did get beaten pretty badly.

Second, nowhere does it say he was “acting like his normal self later on that day”. He suffered a concussion and his eye was swollen almost shut but he wanted to go the ring ceremony.

“WHERE I’M FROM KIDS GET JUMPED ON BY GANGS OF PEOPLE AND SOMEIMES KILLED EVERYDAY BUT THEY DON’T LOOK AT FACING 22 YEARS IN PRISON…..DOESN’T MATTER HOW YOU SEE IT TO ME IT WAS STILL A FIGHT RATHER IT WAS ONE ON ONE OR NOT….IF YOUR TOWN BELIEVES IN SUCH HARSH PUNISHMENT FOR PEOPLE GETTING JUMPED BY MORE THAN ONE PERSON REGARDLESS OF RACE WHY WAS THE WHITE KIDS WHO BEAT UP THE ONE BLACK BOY AT THE PARTY NOT CONVICTED THIS WAY EVEN THOUGH IT DIN’T HAPPEN ON SHCOOL GROUNDS?????”

That is a shame that where you are from people get jumped by gangs and sometimes killed everyday. I assume the people in Jena don’t want their town to be anything like that and I certainly don’t want mine to either. Maybe the gang beatings could be reduced in your town if harsher punishments were handed down. And no, a fight is not 6 on 1, a fight is 1 on 1 and no more. 6 on 1 is a beating and it is a pretty wimpy thing to do. It doesn’t paint the Jena 6 as tough guys that they wouldn’t man up and go 1 on 1.

As for the last part of that comment, punishment is always more severe when things happen on school grounds (and should be). PLus thjey have a zero tolerance policy as stated.

The last post was in response to WHERE IS THE JUSTICE????

COMMON SENSE

COMMON SENSE

IT SEEMS YOU LIKE TO REPSOND ALOT ON PEOPLE’S OPINION AND AGAIN I WILL SAY I AM ENTITLED TO MINE AS WELL AS YOU ARE ENTITLE TO YOURS……YOU SAY THE INFORMATION CAME FROM EYE WITNESSES?????? YEAH EYE WITNESSES THAT COULD NOT IDENTIFY BELL AS BEING THE INITAL ATTACKER…….AND I HAVE READ SO MUCH ON THIS I CAN’T REMEBER EXACTLY WHERE I READ IT BUT IT DID SAY HE WAS OUT AT A FUNCTION AND APPEARED TO BE HIS NORMAL SELF……AND IF HE WAS SO BEATEN WHY EVEN BE OUT IN PUBLIC INSTEAD OF AT HOME RESTING????? IN ANOTHER ARTICLE I READ THAT JUSTIN GOT UP IN BELL’S FACE GIVING HIM THE FINGER AND THAT IS HOW IT STARTED SO WITH ALL THE DIFFERENT STORIES WHOSE TO SAY WHAT REALLY HAPPENED….

Where you’re from is not somewhere I want to be then. Maybe they should give harsher punishments for gang beatings and killings so that it doesn’t happen as much. Also, a fight is not 6 on 1, that is a bunch of wussies who can’t fight for themselves visciously beating one kid together. A fight is two people squaring up one on one to air out problems.

YOUR RIGHT AND WHERE YOUR FROM IS NOT SOMEWHERE I WOULD WANT TO BE. MAYBE THEY SHOULD GIVE HARSHER PUNISHMENTS HEAR BUT WHAT IS GOING ON HERE IS NOT IN QUESTION……IT’S THE WHERE YOU ARE IN JENA……I AM FULLY AWARE OF WHAT A FIGHT IS AND I GUESS THE WHITE KIDS WHO JUMPED ON THE BLACK KIDS WEREN’T “WUSSIES” (YOUR WORDS NOT MINE)?????? AND IF THE SHCOOL HAD ZERO TOLERANCE FOR FIGHTING WHY DID THE SUPERINTENDANT PLACE THE WHITE CHILDREN BACK IN SCHOOL AFTER THE PRINCIPAL EXPELLED THEM AND ONLY GAVE THEM 3 DAYS SUPENSION FOR HANGING THE NOOSES????

SO HOW CAN I LOOK INTO FACTS WHEN NO ONE REALLY KNOWS THE FACTS BECAUSE EVERYBODY IS SAYING SOMETHING DIFFERENT…..CHECK YOURSELF…..

OH AND SINCE YOU HAVE BEEN THE ENGLSIH PROFESSOR ON THIS SITE YOU SPELLED visciously WRONG…….THE CORRECT SPELLING IS viciously……..

WHERE IS THE JUSTICE????-
I do not take issue with your having a different opinion than I do. I take issue with you backing up that opion with untrue/unreliable facts and sources.

“YOU SAY THE INFORMATION CAME FROM EYE WITNESSES?????? YEAH EYE WITNESSES THAT COULD NOT IDENTIFY BELL AS BEING THE INITAL ATTACKER”

Not all witnesses could identify him, but several did.

“AND I HAVE READ SO MUCH ON THIS I CAN’T REMEBER EXACTLY WHERE I READ IT BUT IT DID SAY HE WAS OUT AT A FUNCTION AND APPEARED TO BE HIS NORMAL SELF……AND IF HE WAS SO BEATEN WHY EVEN BE OUT IN PUBLIC INSTEAD OF AT HOME RESTING????? IN ANOTHER ARTICLE I READ THAT JUSTIN GOT UP IN BELL’S FACE GIVING HIM THE FINGER AND THAT IS HOW IT STARTED SO WITH ALL THE DIFFERENT STORIES WHOSE TO SAY WHAT REALLY HAPPENED….”

Show me the article where it says he was acting his “normal self” and I will discuss this further. He may have wanted to go out in public to prove a point that he wouldn’t let the beating stop him from living his normal life…I don’t know why he didn’t stay him, call him and ask him. Also, show me the article with the getting up in his face and giving him the finger part, because no one has ever mentioned that before. Some reports say he called him a n***** before the fight ensued. But again, not proven because Bell’s defense team call NO WITNESSES to testify to this. I would take witness testimony over the biased articles you are reading though.

“YOUR RIGHT AND WHERE YOUR FROM IS NOT SOMEWHERE I WOULD WANT TO BE. MAYBE THEY SHOULD GIVE HARSHER PUNISHMENTS HEAR BUT WHAT IS GOING ON HERE IS NOT IN QUESTION……IT’S THE WHERE YOU ARE IN JENA……I AM FULLY AWARE OF WHAT A FIGHT IS AND I GUESS THE WHITE KIDS WHO JUMPED ON THE BLACK KIDS WEREN’T “WUSSIES” (YOUR WORDS NOT MINE)?????? ”

I never said I was in Jena, what I did say was that maybe Jena is doing this to show that they don’t tolerate gang beatings like some others do. The fight where “the white kids who jumped on the black kids” can’t be compared. A complaint was only filed against of of the white kids who plead guilty to simply battery. If they all jumped in during that fight, then yes they were wussies. But the victim only chose to file charges on one of them and the fact that it was a gang beating was never confirmed.

“AND IF THE SHCOOL HAD ZERO TOLERANCE FOR FIGHTING WHY DID THE SUPERINTENDANT PLACE THE WHITE CHILDREN BACK IN SCHOOL AFTER THE PRINCIPAL EXPELLED THEM AND ONLY GAVE THEM 3 DAYS SUPENSION FOR HANGING THE NOOSES????”

I think everyone in here agress the kids who hung the nooses should have been expelled or at least punished more severely. However, last time I checked, hanging nooses and fighting were two different things. The school’s zero tolerance policy refers to fighting in school.

Again, it is tough to debate this issue when people are so blinded by there opions. While no one knows all of the facts, we at least know some things to be true. You seem to be disregarding these truths, possibly because you are blinded by your own opinions. I hope you will begin to look more closely at this and actually be able to debate the facts of the incident. I would rather disagree with someone making valid points than with someone without a clear understanding of the events in Jena.

“YEAH EYE WITNESSES THAT COULD NOT IDENTIFY BELL AS BEING THE INITAL ATTACKER”

Actually, several could identify him as the attacker.

“AND I HAVE READ SO MUCH ON THIS I CAN’T REMEBER EXACTLY WHERE I READ IT BUT IT DID SAY HE WAS OUT AT A FUNCTION AND APPEARED TO BE HIS NORMAL SELF……AND IF HE WAS SO BEATEN WHY EVEN BE OUT IN PUBLIC INSTEAD OF AT HOME RESTING?????”

Can you forward me the article/site where you read this? I would guess it was one of the “Free the Jena 6″ sites that skews the info in favor of the kids who committed the crime. He may been there to show that he wouldn’t let it stop him, I don’t know why he wasn’t home, you could call and ask him.

“IN ANOTHER ARTICLE I READ THAT JUSTIN GOT UP IN BELL’S FACE GIVING HIM THE FINGER AND THAT IS HOW IT STARTED SO WITH ALL THE DIFFERENT STORIES WHOSE TO SAY WHAT REALLY HAPPENED….”

Do you read articles written by Mychal Bell’s family or something? No of this has been validated through any testimony. And the giving him the finger has never even been presented. The actually rumor is that Justin muttered n***** under his breath or that he ridiculed Bell for getting beaten up at the barn. If he did, that is absolutely wrong. But again, there is no solid evidence that he said anything.

“YOUR RIGHT AND WHERE YOUR FROM IS NOT SOMEWHERE I WOULD WANT TO BE. MAYBE THEY SHOULD GIVE HARSHER PUNISHMENTS HEAR BUT WHAT IS GOING ON HERE IS NOT IN QUESTION……IT’S THE WHERE YOU ARE IN JENA……”

First, I am not/never said I was in Jena. The point I was trying to make is that towns like Jena probably don’t want to be like where you are from. They do not want gang violence to occur and they are willing to punish someone to avoid that happening. I would feel the same way if it were my town.

“I AM FULLY AWARE OF WHAT A FIGHT IS AND I GUESS THE WHITE KIDS WHO JUMPED ON THE BLACK KIDS WEREN’T “WUSSIES” (YOUR WORDS NOT MINE)?????? ”

I never said the white kids weren’t wussies. What happened at the barn was never proven to be a gang beating. Files were only charged against one kid who pled guilty to simply battery. Again, get the facts straight please. If it were a gang beating at the barn, then yes, the white kids were p******!

“AND IF THE SHCOOL HAD ZERO TOLERANCE FOR FIGHTING WHY DID THE SUPERINTENDANT PLACE THE WHITE CHILDREN BACK IN SCHOOL AFTER THE PRINCIPAL EXPELLED THEM AND ONLY GAVE THEM 3 DAYS SUPENSION FOR HANGING THE NOOSES????”

I think everyone in here agrees that the punishment for the noose incident should have been much harsher. However, fighting and hanging a noose are two totally different things. A zero tolerance policy for fighting means just that “we will not tolerate fight”. They should have had a no tolerance policy for hanging nooses but didn’t.

I was never attacking your opinions, just the fact that your opions are in no way based on facts but rather on biased articles/reports/websites. It is clear that you are not getting all the information that is available and I wish you would have access to it so we could have a valid debate regarding this incident. Let me know if you want links to any articles from accredited news sources regarding this incident.

WHERE IS THE JUSTICE:

You are reading articles. Wait until you read eye witness statements. They are the true accounts. Articles are spinning this story with complete inaccuracies and LIES. I can pull one out of almost every article I’ve read. Go ahead…point me to one.

COMMON SENSE

I AM NOT GOING TO GO BACK AND FORTH WITH YOU ABOUT THIS ISSUE…….YOU CAN SAY WHAT YOU WANT…..AND BELL WASN’T EVEN THE ONE WHO GOT BEAT UP AT THE ALL WHITE PARTY IT WAS ROBERT BAILEY…….SO GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT…..I DON’T NEED TO POINT OUT WHAT I READ AND WHERE I READ IT AT…..THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT RACISM IS PLAYING A MAJOR PART IN THIS AND THESE BOYS ARE BEING TOO HARSHLY PUNISHED…..

OH AND THE ARTICLE DID SAY THAT THE BLACK BOY WAS PUNCHED IN THE FACE AS SOON AS HE ENTERED THE PARTY THEN KICKED AND STOMPED AND SOMEONE POURED BEER ON HIM……..MAYBE YOU SHOULD DO A GOOGLE SEARCH ON JENA6.COM AND READ ALL THAT I HAVE READ……HOPE YOU HAVE A BLESSED DAY!!!!

WHERE IS THE JUSTICE:

I have a friend that has read the eye witness statement, and I look to read them in the next couple of weeks.

Your accounts of the Fair Barn incident are not represented at all in anyone’s eye witness statement, incluidng Robert Bailey’s. He wrote a vivid description of what happened that night, but failed to mention anything about a beer bottle.

He claimed he got cracked over the head with a beer bottles SEVERAL MONTHS after that incident occurred, and when this case got media attention. No medical report was filed.

…very strange indeed…

THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!!

NPR’s (national public radio) website has a lot of unbiased articles on their site if you search for Jena 6. Also, go to newsweek.com and type in Jena 6. While the article laura posted on here had a moderately biased stance in favor of the Jena 6, they have a slew of good, fact-based articles. Accredited news agencies such as these provide a clearer picture of this case then the websites that pop up during a google search.

“A day earlier Barker had testified that he was struck from behind and immediately went unconscious; there was conflicting testimony from witnesses as to whether the initial attacker was Bell and whether that attacker was wearing a green hooded jacket or a red shirt.”

I never claimed that he was definately the initial attacker. All i said was that several of the witnesses did identify Bell as the initial attacker. There is no evidenced that anyone identified anyone else other than Bell as the one who started the fight though. The ones who didn’t identify him seemed unclear who the one who threw the first punch was. I was not there so I don’t know for sure if he was. That is not why he is the trouble he is in. He is in this trouble because of his participation in this fight and his prior record. I admitted that I made a clerical error and meant to write “made fun of bell and the others for the beating at the barn”, but my facts beyond that are straight. Keep reading newsweek though, I am glad I led you in the right direction and you may actually gain a better understanding of this issue in the future.

COMMON SENSE

IT IS ALL MISLEADING NO MATTER WERE YOU READ IT AT….I DON’T NEED TO GAIN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT’S GOING ON…IT’S WRONG, IT’S WRONG, IT’S WRONG FOR THESE 6 BOYS TO BE PUNISHED THE WAY THEY ARE TRYING TO PUNISH THEM AND THAT WAS MY POINT FROM THE BEGINNING…..LIKE I TOLD JENA YOU EXPRESS YOUR FEELINGS ONE WAY AND I WILL EXPRESS MINE MY WAY….

Where is the justice – LAY OFF THE FREAKING ALL CAPS COMMENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m about to ban you just for the “sweetie.” I’m serious – knock it off or you won’t be posting here at all. Not only is it hard to read, it’s unbelievably annoying.

WHERE IS THE JUSTICE:

Again, you are going off articles in magazines and papers.

You are not going off eye witness statements and public documents.

Jena,
Yes please tell us where to find them.

I live in Virginia, and this is the first I have heard of this. My co-workers and I spoke about it today and none of us were aware of this incident. I have read all of your previous posts and I still don’t understand something. It is mentioned several times the school has a “STRICT NO FIGHTING POLICY”, how is that even relevant in a criminal case the school system in the state I live in has no power to apply criminal punishment, only suspen/expell children for behavior. Either way past criminal acts should be a part of sentencing a person, but 22 years for a school fight and yes whether it is 6 on 1 or 1 on 1 a fight is a fight. The only way to go about this is logically, there was an incident where a person was beat and the accused recieved 3 days of suspension, you therefore have precidence on a case and the same guidelines should be enforced, whether they are white or black or whatever. The simple fact that racism is previlent in the town should have allowed for a change of venue.

“WERE YOU THERE TO SEE THAT HE WAS PUNCHED FROM BEHIND AND THAT HE WAS STILL BEING ATTACKED AS HE LAY ON THE GROUND UNCONSCIOUS??? OR ARE YOU GETTING THIS FROM ARTICLES THAT YOU READ JUST AS WELL AS EVERYBODY ELSE?”

It’s not from articles. It’s from about 40 eye witness statements.

[The eyewitnesses statements as reported are contradictory. Until I see them myself, and unless they're in total agreement on this point, I'm going to start deleting or editing comments that assert this. Aside from the reporting, I know from experience that you will never have 40 identical statements. It's impossible, unless people have been coached. - Laura]

Laura:

“From Jena has suggested that nooses were hanged on a regular basis from the tree, and admitted that it’s only gossip and she has no proof”

JEEZ!! What do I have to say to prove to you that I’m a GUY??? That’s the third damn time somebody’s gotten my gender wrong.

FROM JENA IS A GUY!

From Jena
Keep up the good work, but I am tired of the truth falling on deaf ears. For the record as for as I know no other nooses were ever hung from that tree. There were nooses hung in the pecan tree infront of the canteen. I don think it is still there since they built the new band room. The nooses were hung with tigers hanging from them and bears(stuffed LOL dont wont PETA on us). Sometimes the them would be HANG EM HIGH followed by go giants.I even remember a manaquin dressed as a REBEL before a Pineville game, being hung there. I am probably several years older. I do know one of the noose hangers father was in highschool at that time. I am not saying this was what was going on with these nooses. Any way, good luck and if I find out any more, absolute facts I will let you know. I just saw on CNN where a school cop in Houston alledgedly was handing out ebonics dictionarys. Maybe those from there ,that are protesting this will look at their own community.

Jack Black

It has been over a week the last time I checked this blog, so everyone please bear with me. I could try to answer most of your questions, however there seems to be enough Jena “experts” (or at least enough people that know what they claim to be “actual facts” regarding the whole situation) that will willingly dispute what I say. Everyone is looking at this from a racial standpoint-justifiably so I might add. What I would like these bloggers to do is take the race factor OUT OF THE EQUATION for just a moment and think about what is happening from a judicial point of view. Any way you look at it this is a textbook case of SELECTIVE PROSECUTION, no questions asked. The only way ANYONE can convince me differently is if someone can supply FACTUAL EVIDENCE supporting the following:

1. EVERYONE IN JENA THAT PARTICIPATES IN A FIGHT GETS THE SAME CHARGES AS THE JENA 6. I doubt this very seriously. A fight is a fight, period. Whether you are on school grounds or not, applicable charges are applied, so please do not insist that for some reason this was a more serious offense because it happened on school grounds. If everyone involved in physical altercations received this outrageous charge, then the white kid who was charged with simple battery after fighting with Bailey (I still say he was jumped by more than one person) would be serving a one-year sentence as well instead of having a simple battery charge. Oh, I forgot, maybe because he didn’t kick Bailey with the oh-so-dangerous weapon (his tennis shoes), at least not that we know of. I know this is not the only fight ever to occur at Jena High; were all the people in previous fights arrested and charged as well to this degree? Or were they given the more appropriate punishment of expulsion or suspension? If you can dig up ANY INSTANCES that indicate it is normal practice in Jena to charge/arrest those who participate in fights on school grounds I’d appreciate it.

2. LEGALLY, YOU CAN RETRIEVE A WEAPON FROM YOUR VEHICLE IF YOU FEEL THREATENED IN PUBLIC FOR WHATEVER REASON. I will stipulate that my information on this matter has come from this site or links posted on this site at some point or another (probably back in late June or early July). The only accounts I have about what happened at that store is from what I read, which was more than 10 articles from various online news agencies (Newsweek for sure, I remember that one). So if anyone knows more accurate details, please feel free to enlighten us all. If I remember right the three black boys were charged with theft and something else ridiculous in this incident, for wrestling the gun away from the white kid who pulled the gun on THEM. I will admit, I have tried to side with the white kid on this, but his story just doesn’t make any sense to me (or did I get the story wrong?). If the three black kids did something so serious where he felt threatened enough to go to his vehicle and retrieve his gun, one of two things would have happened: either he would have never made it to his vehicle at all, or he would have gotten in his truck and LEFT THE STORE instead of retrieving a weapon from his vehicle, then EXITING the vehicle after he was safely inside. Either way it goes, he cannot legally argue that he pulled the gun from the vehicle for protection from the three black kids (keep in mind, although no actual fight had taken place, even if one had the law does allow us to “escalate” a fight with a weapon, it is a definite charge). What were the three black boys doing when he went to his vehicle, waiting to see what he was going to do? The black boys were so intent on doing him bodily harm that they wrestled the gun away from him and ran? This makes absolutely no sense to me. In any event, no charges were filed in that case against the alleged “victim” in this horrible “robbery” of a weapon he had no business having in his vehicle in the first place. Is Walter Reed more concerned with how people use their tennis shoes for weapons, rather than a gun?

Let me be perfectly clear on this: I am not one of those people who are proclaiming the Jena 6 were totally innocent and should be let off the hook. If you do the crime, you should do the time. My thing is, we should start looking at this for what it really is: a gross abuse of power by a DA who openly threatened an assembly of kids and had the nerve to make good on his promises. It’s sickening; I can’t imagine anyone justifying what he said that day, and the subsequent actions he has taken since. Anyone who is a parent for sure should have a serious problem with this; we send our kids to school to learn, the last thing we’d expect is for someone who is responsible for maintaining law and order in our community, a supposed leader, to call an assembly at school to inform your kids he could end his life if he so pleases.

Again, since there seems to be so many of us chatting that know the facts, please share them with the rest of us. I am not interested in being stuck on stupid, so if you can prove or give any valid information (please supply links) about any of the above please do so. No offense to everyone’s opinions, but it is hard to form a justifiable conclusion about any situation without stone cold facts. I’ve read many different accounts of what is REALLY going on from the blogs above; if you could supply some links so we can all see where you get your information it would be extremely helpful.

Jack Black:

First off, thank you for not jumping to conclusion like most people have done about this. I’ll answer your questions below:

“Did only one kid get arrested or charged in the “barn fight” when the black kid was attacked or are there more.?”

One white male got arrested. He’s about 22 y.o. He pled guilty to simply battery. I have a copy of the eye witness statement of Robert Bailey (the Jena 6 attacker who was involved with just about every incident in question) for that incident. He says himself that only two guys punched him, unlike what alot of the media is reporting (five on one). So even from HIS side of the story, only two guys punched him. And no, he has no mentioning of a beer bottle in his statement. I find that awfully strange.

“Did anyone find out why a black kid came to an all white party in a time of “unrest” (for lack of a better word)?”

He showed up with several of his friends. This party had several guys in it who hung out with the same click as the noose-hangers. The party was invitation-only. It wasn’t necessarily an all-white party. There may have been some black people there, but Robert Bailey and his friends were not invited. So one can only speculate why they showed up. Of course, I’m of the opinion that they were there to start trouble. Why else would the show up like that?

“Did the white kid at the gas station who pulled the gun ever get arrested or charged with anything?”

I’m not sure about this. I’ll have to look some things up. I BELIEVE he was arrested but they haven’t sentenced him or anything. But definitely don’t quote me on that. I know the three black students got arrested, most likely because they followed him to his vehicle and were beating him while he was trying to pull out the gun (that’s according to an eye witness statement). So they were considered the attackers, according to the eye witness.

“What happened to the 3 kids who took the gun from this white kid? Also did anyone ask why this kid had the gun in the 1st place? (He surely did not have a license to own a gun did he; especially if he was high school age.)”

I answered some of this question above. Almost everybody in Jena hunts and you’ll find a gun in probably 90% of vehicle driven by guys. That’s just a known fact here. I’m not sure if he actually had a license to carry it. If he didn’t, I’m sure our police department fined him for it.

“How does the school board overturn a principal’s decision on a matter like this and not expect a public response?”

I don’t know. Most people in Jena (including the white people) feel like expulsion was necessary. Many people say that it was just a joke and they meant no harm by it. I find it a little hard to believe, being that they are rednecks. But nobody knows what was going through their head but them.

“Are 5 of the 6 kids being held and trialed as adults? (Or is it tried; there are quite a few English majors on this thread apparently)”

One of the six is being treated as a juvenile. In fact, he’s playing on the football team right now. The others are being tried as adults.

And don’t worry about me, I won’t judge you unless I can’t understand what you’re saying. lol

“Why didn’t anyone come to the defense of Barker when he was jumped? Is it possible that even the white people that saw it felt it was justified?”

One reason is because several of the attackers (Jena 6) friends held doors open to the gym where most of the people who could help were. Second, someone DID jump over Justin Barker and cover his body up to protect him. I suspect that’s one reason why he didn’t get severely injured. This was all put in eye witness statements.

“And last for now: If there is no racism, why is there (or was there) a “white kids tree”?”

I haven’t spoke with anyone in the black community about this, but I have never ONCE heard this tree be called the white tree. It’s in the exact middle of the square (where students hang out at recess). When I was in high school, blacks and whites hung out there. I’ve also heard from recent JHS graduates that black students hung out there even recently. So it’s completely inappropriate (at least in my eyes) to call it the “white tree”.

“And why cut it down now (out of sight, out of mind OR leave the past behind and lets move on).”

Remember that the school was burnt down. They cut this tree down because part of the new building will be where it was. So they had to cut it down for construction.

If you have any more burning questions, just ask.

Charla:

(takes deep breath)

“there seems to be enough Jena “experts” (or at least enough people that know what they claim to be “actual facts” regarding the whole situation) that will willingly dispute what I say”

I don’t profess to be an expert. But 3 or 4 of us are FROM Jena. We see things you aren’t seeing, plain and simple.

I don’t proclaim ANY actual facts until they are proven without a shadow of a doubt. I just take eye witness statements seriously, as they are the best thing to go on without a video tape of what happened. Do you agree with me on this?

“A fight is a fight, period.”

For the millionth time, IT WAS NOT A FIGHT! The boy never had a chance to defend himself. He was knocked in the head from behind, hit concrete, and landed on the ground unconscious. He then was kicked and punched by the Jena 6. This is, of course, according to MOST of the eye witness statements (not all). So you can take that for whatever you want. But either way, THAT IS NOT A FIGHT! A fight involves one side being conscious, whereas this guy wasn’t. Why do you think it’s a fight? Explain that to me.

“the white kid who was charged with simple battery after fighting with Bailey (I still say he was jumped by more than one person) would be serving a one-year sentence as well instead of having a simple battery charge”

Again, very different situations. According to Robert Bailey’s statement, he was punched by only two guys that night. He was conscious. He was able to defend himself. He also says that other white boys came after his two friends, who were black. This is Robert Bailey’s version of the story. I don’t have copies of the other statements yet. So EVEN FROM ROBERT BAILEY’S side, it was 3 or 4 on 3.

“I know this is not the only fight ever to occur at Jena High; were all the people in previous fights arrested and charged as well to this degree?”

Jena High School has a zero tolerance policy. Several people have been arrested since they initiated that policy but no one has been charged to this degree. Then again, this is the first time 6 have ganged up on one while he was unconscious. So DA Reed Walters decided to SELECTIVELY PROSECUTE these individuals (most likely) because of the circumstances. Can you sit here and tell me this was just a “typical fight”?

“If you can dig up ANY INSTANCES that indicate it is normal practice in Jena to charge/arrest those who participate in fights on school grounds I’d appreciate it.”

Come gather that yourself. I have no way of obtaining that information unless I visit the school. It’s unlikely that charges have been pressed for any of the high school FIGHTS before this BEATING.

“I have tried to side with the white kid on this, but his story just doesn’t make any sense to me (or did I get the story wrong?)”

His story does make sense, and one of the eye witness’ statements match his story alot closer than Robert Bailey’s. The eye witness says that she saw the white student running towards his truck with the 3 black students running after him. She said Robert Bailey, Theo Shaw, and (another black student not yet mentioned) jumped on him and started hitting and kicking him. They wrestled his gun away from him (it says the gun wasn’t loaded). She called and reported the fight. A man pulled up to the store and the three black students ran off.

“Walter Reed”

It’s Reed Walters. How many articles did you say you read?

“My thing is, we should start looking at this for what it really is: a gross abuse of power by a DA who openly threatened an assembly of kids and had the nerve to make good on his promises.”

If anything he did was illegal, he should be called on it and punished. No one has done that yet, though. After everything that was going on in town, I can understand why he was so upset. What he said was a little harsh. I wouldn’t have said what he said, I can assure you. But he said it, and you’re right, he made good on his promise.

“Again, since there seems to be so many of us chatting that know the facts, please share them with the rest of us. ”

More documents will be released in the next few weeks. Be patient.

Also, go to the Alexandria Town Talk article. This link is an article describing what Donald Washington said in a meeting with people in Jena. He and two others conducted an investigation. He and Carmelita Freeman are black, the other is white. Two are from the FBI, one is from the Justice Department. They address many issues in this case. Laura seems to take issue with Donald Washington for his failure to see certain legal issues surrounding the “selective prosecution” argument, but keep in mind he and TWO OTHERS came into Jena and investigated. They discuss all of these incidents in the link below:

http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070731/NEWS01/707310322

They pretty much confirm what us Jena people have known from the start.

“From Jena: “Your accounts of the Fair Barn incident are not represented at all in anyone’s eye witness statement, incluidng Robert Bailey’s. He wrote a vivid description of what happened that night, but failed to mention anything about a beer bottle.”

Where did you see that writing? Can you provide us with a link/document of this vivid description? I’ve never heard of it, please post it for us”

Hold your britches. I have the eye witness statements, and they will be online in the next two weeks, I strongly suspect.

“Also, keep in mind that just because someone submits an eyewitness account does not make what they recall a FACT; it has been proven all too many times that-though our justice system relys on it heavily-eyewitness testimony is often inconsistent or incorrect. I’m not implying that people purposely lie under oath; I’m only indicating that what we think happened and what actually did happen are often two different things.”

I emphatically agree with you there. But, what else do we have to go on?

“if Justin knows he was attacked by more than one person”

Justin Barker had NO CLUE what was going on, Charla, because he was UNCONSCIOUS.

“Do you (or anyone else for that matter) have more information about the previous “4 violent acts” that Bell commmited in the past?”

I don’t. The only thing I could possibly tell you is town gossip, because juvenile records are sealed. I DO know that one girl from Jena (she’s about 22 y.o.) was punched by one of the Jena 6 and she called the police. I’m not 100% sure which one it was, and I’m not sure if she pressed charges. If I were to guess, it was probably Mychal Bell or Robert Bailey. But, again, that is just a guess. I don’t think there’s anything I can pull up at the courthouse to prove that.

“Our democratic process involves us writing our local congressmen to get the laws changed first, then implementing them accordingly.”

YOU ARE SO RIGHT!! Most people who are so gung-ho about the Jena 6 discuss so many of the unfair quirks of the Jena justice system, when it is actually echoing what the United States justice system is. If they want to get mad about alot of this, they need to try to change laws and write their congressman, not complain that Jena’s justice system is unfair.

I’m sorry, I neglected to inform you that I do live in Louisiana, in the Lafayette area, so I am not too far out of touch with “how things are down here” as some people may think….

From Jena:

OK, read the article from the link you provided above. I have a slightly better understanding of the timeline of events (I guess). What made absolutely no sense at all to me is this caption in particular:

“Fowler said that the boys would have received much lighter charges without all the attention, although the only attention on the case before the charges were bumped from battery to attempted murder was from local media including The Town Talk and The Jena Times.”

I’m confused; it seems like this would work the other way around. Any clue why he decided to bump the charges up? Were people (Jena residents, or anyone else following the case) complaining that the battery charges were too light, thus the increase in the charge? What was the time span between the initial charge, and the decision to increase it?

Maybe I’m just stupid today (Labor Day, enjoying my day off, maybe my brain is lazing more than my body is). Anyone care to explain?

There are other captions in this article that I have issues with, EASILY, but bringing them up at this point is almost null and void, plus I don’t want to continue writing a book each time I post something. I’ll check back for responses…thanx for the link.

Second degree battery RS 14:34.1

Second degree battery is a batery committed without consent of the victim when the offender intentionally inflicts serious bodily injury.

Serious bodily injury means bodily injury which involves UNCONSCIOUSNESS, or extreme physical pain or protracted and obvious disfigurement, or substantial risk of death.

ACTS 1978, Nn. 394,.1

I dont think many people can disagree ,Barker was knocked unconscious. After reading this straight out of Louisiana Law I dont see how the DA could have charged Bell with any thing less than second degree battery.

So all of the arguing and opinions about anything before this event apparently doesnt matter much. I dont see anyway there can be any other verdict.

From Jena:

I’ll see if I can find the timeline for this again somewhere. Whether he started with a higher charge or a lower charge is not what is peaking my interest; the fact that it was changed (whether up or down) is what I’m curious about. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, it does all the time, just would like to know if it was a result of public outcry for a stiffer or lesser sentence, or if he re-evaluated the evidence and reconsidered his decision. I’m pretty sure you’re right though; the initial charge was murder, then reduced. That’s why I was totally confused about this statement, it just didn’t make any sense to me (maybe he just said it backwards unknowingly, I don’t know).

Jack Black: Perhaps you should read this statute again (Second degree battery RS 14:34.1). Tell me if you think I’m over-reading:

§34.1. Second degree battery

Second degree battery is a battery committed without the consent of the victim when the offender intentionally inflicts serious bodily injury.

I hate to say it, but either this is a typographical error in this law, or it just doesn’t make any sense. If someone “consents” to a beating, or assault, then it is not an assault (I don’t see who would volunteer themselves for this).

Again, we should take a closer look at our laws…

That is no typo, I printed it out and thats exactly what is said. I did find that part strange but that doesnt change the rest of it. As for your earier question I expect Bell to get 5 years and do 1. Also expect the others to get 1 year with the sentence suspended and 5 years probation.

LOL, sorry James, I was not referring to what you posted as a typo, but a typo in the law itself as it is written (that’s why I supplied the link, so you could read it directly from the site to be sure I didn’t mistype). My focus was more so this phrase:

“Second degree battery is a battery committed without the consent of the victim”. The implication does not make sense to me; I’ve never heard of anyone consenting to anyone beating the crap out of them, “strange”, as you said. There’s a big problem with the wording of the law is all I’m saying. They could have really omitted that phrase altogether, the statute would make a lot more sense.

Earlier, I asked you what you thought the sentence SHOULD be; you replied what you “expect”. I was asking YOUR opinion of what a fair sentence should be, not what you predict the sentence WILL BE. Please clarify; I don’t like jumping to conclusions.

From Jena: I agree with you on number one for sure. And number two is definitely out (if he were the type of guy to cave under media pressure he would’ve done so a long time ago; he had ample opportunity to do so). Number three, I don’t know. It would make sense if juveniles cannot be tried as adults on aggravated battery charges, but they can (or can they? If not, our country’s judicial process is worse than I thought). There’s a significant difference in attempted second degree murder and aggravated battery, yet both are obviously serious enough to carry long prison sentences. I just wonder why the attempted murder charge was chosen from jump, even factoring in a tennis shoe as the “dangerous weapon”. I’m still searching the LA State Law site (it’s a mess; they should really do a better job of organizing all this info. Too hard to search/find what you’re looking for). If I can find something that stipulates the different criteria for the two I’ll post the link for anyone interested.

The reason the 2nd degree attempted murder charges were brought is because the aggravated battery was on a juvenile. If you read the 2nd degree murder charge, you can see it makes reference to crime against juveniles. “(b) When the offender is engaged in the perpetration of cruelty to juveniles, even though he has no intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm.”

Since the victim didn’t die, only attempted 2nd degree murder is available. This charge has a maximum penalty of half the maximum of doing the actually charge. With 2nd degree murder, you can get life, so half of that according to Louisiana law is 50 years without parole. If you’ve been convicted of other violent crimes, that sentence doubles, so Bell would be back up to life imprisonment.

Of course the DA dropped that charge. If you think it’s uncommon for a DA to “pad” the charges on someone, you don’t know our legal system. This happens with blacks, whites, everyone. This allows them to plea bargain and save the time and money for a trail. If he really wanted to ruin Bell’s life, he could have left that charge on there and probably have gotten conviction. He also could have added the Hate Crime law Louisiana has since the battery was based on race.

Bell…Consider yourself lucky.

I am a first time visitor to this site. As I read the postings they became kinder and gentler. Which is a good thing. As always, most of the discussions fell correspondingly on different sides of the huge racial divide that exist in the country.

I am a 66 yo American male who happens to be black. I grew up in the Jim Crow south. I have no criminal record and I am a Viet Nam Vet. By the time I was 15, I came to believe the laws were designed to protect the whites and prosecute the blacks. That opinion has changed some but not very much. Now to add to that, prosecution is less likely if you have money regardless of race. In small town USA where the white judges, police force and white citizens mostly grew up together. They go to church together and their children are friends. In situations like this it hard for a black person get a fair trial if it involves a white citizen. The white defense lawyer as well, could also be a friend of the white citizen.

Had the victim of this fight in Jena been black, the it would have been just a slap on the wrist. Or, had the perpetrators been white and victim black, the same slap on the wrist. I am not stating my opinion as facts, this is just what I believe. Another thing I believe is that with media coverage today, many people go into a trial as jurors expecting a defendant to be proven innocent instead of guilty. That is just the opposit of what is intended. The court of public opinion is too strong today and plays a major role in that concepts.

Some people are hard core racist and in others Racisim is an involuntary responce. In the mind of the average citizen, the subconscious mind makes a subtle change when it comes to race and it is not notice by the consious mind. We all have varying degrees of it. We have to admit that race plays a role in all phases of the American behavior.

I think some form of punishmet should occur to these young men. I also think this 22 years is over kill. This over kill occurs too much for black youths if the incident involves a white person. Example; The 7 year sentence for a 14 yo black female student shoved a white hall monitor in Paris, TX, the 17 years sentence for 17 yo black male HS student for having sex with his 15 yo white girl friend in GA. At the same time 4 white males beat a developementally disabled black male, left him unconsicous in a ditch, on and ant bed. They were found not guilty by an all white jury. However, they were later convicted in a civil court. The jury foreman said they were good old boys having a little fun. No white people were up set about. At least, not as upset as they are about Micheal Vick and the dogs.

Think about all of those black people (31) wrongly convicted in Tulia TX on tainted drug charges by a crooked narcotic agent. Thank God the Gov. of Texas saw fit pardon them. There have been 12 black people released from prison in last year that were wrongly convicted in Dallas, Tx. A black electical engineer was wrongly convicted of robbing a churches chicken few years back, had to be released from prison. The justice system is heavily imbued with racisim. It is not unique to Jena. The thing that worries me is that many white americans are not conscious that it exist.

This is one blacks man’s opinion.

BLACKMALE

Thank God that we have people that are not afraid to stand up to these people who are making a mockery of this situation. I’ve heard of some of the most sinister individuals in my lifetime, this is an outrage! My heart and prayers go out to Michael’s family, keep the faith, God has the last word.

A Pox on Both Your Houses:

Very well put. There’s nothing in your posting that I do not agree with. One of the first postings on here that genuinely seem in the middle of the road as far as polarity to the Jena 6 situation.

Stay in here and keep debating about this. Maybe you can help bridge the gap between opinions on here.

First, I want to say RIGHT is RIGHT and WRONG is WRONG! If anyone with young boys should really be opened to answer this simple question…..if this was your children (black or white) would you want the penalty to be as
severe for a simple high school FIGHT? – You win some and you lose some, we all should be teaching our
children how and when to defend themselves but 22 years for a FIGHT is just simply wrong especially when
the “victim” was treated at a hospital and later resumed with “his” everyday life by attending an evening function.
Jena legal systems needs cleaning up………

This is an outrage…… Can you say DOUBLE STANDARD. Unfortunenately, this is not anything new.
For example, there was a case in Las Vegas several years ago…..Two white guys followed a young blackgirl
into the ladies bathroom. One of them raped and killed her and other one walk out but did not report the
crime. Needless to say, the one that walked out and did not call security the judge let him go free…..Reason
The judge said he did not have an ax to grind so he did not charge him with anything. Now flip the script, if
two youg black guys were faced with the same situation they both would have the book thrown at them.
Jasper Texas, James Byrd , who was dragged until body came apart. All the white guys envolved should have gotten the death penilty……Not….. Flip the script , if a group of young black guys would done the same thing they would have gotten the dealth penilty. There is a long list of such cases all over the United States.

Vengence is mine said the LORD.

Most of the people here seems to be taking their eye off the prize.
The prize should be the punishment does not fit the crime.
yes there was a fight however it does not consist of serving life in jail to please the majority of Jena. It also does not mean that the minority should have to stop seeking justice and fair living conditions in Jena. The prize people Please stop focusing on spelling and white and black though they play a part it is not what this is about. Cause we all know if a group of whites men/boys/teenagers shoot throw some females up in this also. It seems in this town they would have been given metals and awards for taking the life of another black person. Is this what we want for our children’s children

This case is just another example of racism. To be exact racial injustice. While it makes me absolutely ill to my stomach, racism will NEVER go away. So what he had a past–we all do. It does not justify why he was charged so heavily. His past had nothing to do with them wanting to sit under a tree that the Almighty God created, but it was called the “white” tree. That is extremely ridiculous–especially in this day & age. Why weren’t the causcasian children charged? Tell me that? They hung nooses which shows a clear hatred for blacks. Reed Walters came to that school and told blacks students that he can destroy there lives with a stroke of a pen. So, he’s not racist, huh?

I dont know where all of you people went to school or where you live, but I thank god I dont live anywhere a 6 on 1 fight is just a school fight. If that is they way it is where you live you better try to fix it before it is to late. If 1 of those boys had wanted to fight Barker and had kicked his ass nothing would have been said it would have been just a school fight. They both would have been suspended. But no like cowards are some kind of gang it took six. Apparently you live in very violent places , we dont put up with that here and nerver will black or white. You commit a crime you will do time. That is the way it should be everywhere and then things like this would happen less often. A black guy shot me the bird today , tomorrow 6 of us are going to beat him senseless. NOT REALLY but you see you are all condoning this type behavior. You need to think about what you are calling a regular school fight.

Free Jena6.
It’s funny when children try to discuss a topic they know nothing about. (RACISM , LAW & INJUSTICE). Get alife and contribute more to society. Why, don’t you began by donating some of your time to helping the less fortunate, since you have all this time to debate back and forth. Why, don’t you write a book about ALL your opions, oops.. No one would by it!

FREE JENA6
The Aliens Are coming to Jena on The 20th to help the other Aliens

I have been reading this blog and I really don’t know what to say. I was born and raised in Louisiana and left in 2003 when I graduated from college. I can’t say I am surprised by what happened in Jena. It happens over the entire state. Obviously some of the comments from the citizens of Jena clearly represent the fact that there is a visible amount of racial tension in the town. How in hell are you going to declare a “White tree” at a public school that everybody’s tax money funds. Let me stop before I start saying stupid stuff like some of these other people here have been saying. Sneakers are not a deadly weapon, no one should be spending 22 years in jail because of a fight, and white children should not hang nuses in trees if they don’t want to get beat down, the DA should be fired and forced to go to a real law school, the trial should be moved to another city, and the appropriate sentences should be handed down for the actual crime. I am not surprised that there are not federal laws against hanging a nuse in a tree or racism but it seems like something that will possibly be hitting the books in the near future. If the white people in Jena are getting death threats, tell them to go and ask the black citizens who have been dealing with this mess for years how to handle it. There are problems in Jena, the state of Louisiana and the majority of the old south. I am glad I left, and although I visit from time to time, I can only stay for a short while because I am sickened by the ignorance and stupidity that still exsists there. The justice system in Louisiana will never be just as long as the ones responsible for upholding the laws are wearing hoods when they get off work.

I believe when Bell, Bailey and Shaw came out of that store and Justin pointed the shotgun at him, the 3 kids “wrestled” it from him and later turned it over to the police. It has been a while since I read the details of that, but I do believe the 3 kids got charged with crimes. Perhaps the “battery” charge was due to the fighting over the shotgun and perhaps the shotgun was the “damaged property”. Many kids get into fights. In a racist town like Jena, I would not be surprised that the prior “criminal” charges were similiar to the thrumped up charges. Cospiracy to commit murder? If that were even a remote possibiltiy then the kids would have been choosing to spend their lives in jail, knowing a fight at school would get them arrested.

DA Reed’s career is being investigated for past misconduct.

[alyce, Justin Barker was not at the Gotta Go. Bailey definitely was, I'm not sure about Bell and Shaw. What happened at the Gotta Go has been disputed; we need more information about it which I have so far not been able to get. I agree that there was no conspiracy. I haven't seen a thing to persuade me of that so far. As for Reed Walters being investigated, I haven't seen that anywhere, got a link? - Laura]

This was racial turn political shit. how can the supertrend justify the noose hanging the tree as prank (i don’t see any thing funny) about that. the DA and the judge should be a shame of them self due to the fact they HS diploma is black and white so how can they do that to that young boy and they bleed the same color as a black person this is not the 60′s anymore so they need to get off the bull crap
they trying to give him time like he shot some one. the kids beat his ass that all. they lucky they don’t live in NY & attend NY school. they would not been able to put the noose in the tree. they lucky that he got a ass whipping and he is not dead. just one thing i don’t under stand why they did not get charge for putting the noose in the tree. if he would had hung that noose up in NY he would been in it hanging. I’m very mad at that stuff. how do you give some one 22 years and give someone 3 days suspension that don’t add up. just you give someone 3 day’s for attempt murder 1 day for murder that don’t sound right. no no so why must he get 22 year’s. they had tolerance so why he did not get in trouble for the noose and Mychal got 22 for a fight on school ground.

I normally do not blog however the Jena Six case has really grasped my attention. I thought that all juvenile charges were private. I wonder how many successful public figures (politicians, ministers, etc.) would be were they were if the public had access to their juvenile records. It is bad enough that it is LIES all around us but of course allot of people cover up there deceit very well. No one knows why Mychael even has those charges. Honestly, I do not care. What is going on is racism and injustice in my eyes. The media will not persuade me to change my mind on what is really going on. I looked at least two of the other Jena six accused on television only to hear one say he wasn’t there at all and the other admitted to looking on only. Both stated they never even touched Justin period. I truly think he would have been beat a little worst then that just by looking at the picture. I have seen people beat up worse than that by one person. I wonder if they are doing 20, 30 or 80 years for fighting. I doubt it. I can tell you know….I am Happy the Society is Showing Me that Blacks have not Arrived as Many may think. I am very successful, intelligent black woman. Know that I know where I came from and I thank my ancestors for getting me this far. My ancestor fought too hard to have me think I am above the cause. It is bad enough we are still under that Willie Lynch mentality. DON’T BE MANIPULATED!!!! LOOK UP WILLIE LYNCH…IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY!!!

well i really don’t think that michael bell’s past should be an issue here, and another thing , i thought that if you are under the age of 21 and have a criminal record it supposed to be sealed, well i think that michael bell’s family should take action on that , he is a juvinile, so i don’t think that his records should be aired in the first place other than his lawyer. SEALED POINT BLANK.

[Edited by Laura - I'm *not* getting into all this again. I thought I had closed comments on all these old posts. Read the most recent Jena 6 posts, especially the final one.]