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Mychael Bell,
according to CNN is considering a plea deal, which should let him out of
jail.
Tune in to
Michael Baisden, I am sure he will have the latest details.
Perhaps we are looking at more of the
positive results of Michael Baisden, Rev. Sharpton and to all of
us who participated in the Jena6 March..
Thank You..
Compliments
of Town Talk file photo
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'Jena
Six' defendant Mychal Bell taken back into custody after juvenile
court hearing
By Abbey Brown
abrown@thetowntalk.com
(318) 487-6387
|
After two weeks of freedom, Mychal
Bell is back behind bars.
Bell, the most well-known of the
“Jena Six,” was taken back into custody today after a
juvenile court hearing in Jena, according to Bishop J.L.
George of Sicily Island, who has been ministering to the
family throughout this process.
Bell, 17, was held in an adult
detention facility for about 10 months awaiting trial and
then sentencing after a June conviction in connection with
the beating of a fellow student at Jena High School. He was
released on bond on Sept. 27.
George said Bell now has been “locked back up” in a juvenile
detention facility.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, president of National Action Network,
said Bell is facing 18 months in a juvenile facility, which
Sharpton called “cruel and unusual punishment.”
Sharpton, who has supported the Jena Six and worked for Bell
to be released on bond last month, issued this statement
tonight:
“Tonight, Mychal Bell was placed by the same judge in Jena,
Louisiana, in a secured juvenile facility for 18 months
after convicting him for two prior pending cases.
“We feel this was a cruel and unusual punishment and is a
revenge by this judge for the Jena Six movement. His parents
were also charged with the cost of all court costs and
witness costs and will have to pay for him in the facility.
I have committed that National Action Network will
financially support the parents through this unusual
financial strain imposed upon them.”
Sharpton added: “I call upon the governor of Louisiana, who
has the overseeing powers over the juvenile criminal justice
system, to meet with us to immediately intervene on this
obviously biased decision by the same judge. I intend to
raise this next Tuesday, October 16th, in the proceedings of
the United States House Judiciary Committee Hearings on Jena
in Washington, D.C.”
Five other students were also arrested in the case of the
“Jena Six,” which drew national attention after attempted
murder charges were filed in the beating case at Jena High
School.
Little is known about today's juvenile hearing that went
from 1 p.m. until just after 8 p.m. After a gag order issued
earlier this month by 28th Judicial District Court Judge
J.P. Mauffray against Bell, his family and the attorneys
involved, they have been prevented from talking to the press
about the case, family has said.
George said he isn’t sure where Bell is being taken, but he
said it is a juvenile facility.
Melissa Bell, Mychal Bell’s mother, left the LaSalle Parish
Courthouse shortly after Thursday’s hearing ended to check
on her other children while Marcus Jones, Bell’s father,
stayed at the courthouse with George and other family and
supporters.
“It’s been rough,” George said of how the family is taking
the news of their son’s incarceration in a juvenile
facility. “It’s real rough for them.”
Bell is the first of the six black teens referred to as the
Jena Six to face trial. He was initially convicted in adult
court of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to
commit that crime after LaSalle Parish District Attorney
Reed Walters reduced his charges from attempted murder.
Bell, Robert Bailey Jr., Jesse Ray Beard, Carwin Jones,
Bryant Purvis and Theo Shaw were all initially charged with
attempted murder after their arrest in connection with the
attack on white student Justin Barker on Dec. 4 at Jena
High.
According to court documents and testimony, Bell knocked
Barker out with a punch and then all six suspects “kicked
and stomped” his unconscious body. Barker was treated in a
hospital emergency room for three hours.
Charges against Bailey, Jones and Shaw have been reduced to
aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit
that crime. Purvis hasn’t yet been arraigned.
Details about Beard’s case are unknown as he was 14 when
arrested, and his case is being handled in the juvenile
court system.
After Bell’s conviction, his family fired the
court-appointed attorney, and a group of lawyers from Monroe
took on his case pro bono. They appealed both convictions.
Mauffray agreed with Bell’s attorneys when they said the
adult court never had jurisdiction over the conspiracy
charge. He vacated that conviction and sent the case back to
juvenile court. But he contended that the adult system
retained jurisdiction on the battery charge.
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal disagreed and ruled that
Bell should have faced the battery charge in the juvenile
court as well. When Walters decided on Sept. 27 not to
appeal that decision and the conviction was vacated and sent
to the juvenile court, Mauffray set bail at $45,000.
Bell was released that day and had been on house arrest, the
conditions of which aren’t known.
Initially, Bell’s bond was set as high as $130,000,
according to court documents, but it had been reduced to
$90,000 before his adult conviction.
After his conviction, his attorneys requested a bond
hearing, but bond was denied, with Mauffray citing Bell’s
status of being on probation when arrested and four other
juvenile adjudications for violent crimes. He had been
adjudicated on two charges of battery and two of criminal
damage to property. |
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