By MARY FOSTER
Associated Press Writer
JENA, La. (AP) — A judge on Friday denied a request to release a
teenager whose arrest in the beating of a white classmate sparked
this week’s civil rights protest in Louisiana.
Mychal Bell’s request to be freed while an appeal is being
reviewed was rejected at a juvenile court hearing, effectively
denying him any chance at immediate bail, a person familiar with
the case told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition
of anonymity because juvenile court proceedings are closed.
Earlier, Bell’s mother emerged from the hearing in tears,
refusing to comment.
Bell, 17, was convicted of aggravated second-degree battery,
which could have led to 15 years in prison. But his conviction was
thrown out by a state appeals court that said he could not be tried
on the charge as an adult because he was 16 at the time of the
beating.
“This is why we did not cancel the march,” said the Rev. Al
Sharpton, an organizer of Thursday’s rally along with the Rev.
Jesse Jackson and the NAACP. “When they overturned Mychal’s
conviction, everyone said we won.”
Jackson said in an interview Friday that federal intervention is
needed to protect Bell’s rights. Sharpton said he has scheduled
meetings in Washington with congressional leaders to discuss the
Jena Six case.
At a separate closed hearing Friday, a judge refused a request
from defense attorneys to remove Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. from
Bell’s case, said John Jenkins, father of one of Bell’s
co-defendants.
Defense lawyers have complained that Mauffray set a high bail
for Bell — $90,000 — prior to his conviction in the Barker beating.
Mauffray had cited Bell’s criminal record, which included juvenile
arrests for battery and damage to property, in setting the bail.
On Thursday, the case drew thousands of protesters to this tiny
central Louisiana town to rally against what they see as a double
standard of justice for blacks and whites. The march was one of the
biggest civil rights demonstrations in years.
The case dates to August 2006, when a black Jena High School
student asked the principal whether blacks could sit under a shade
tree that was a frequent gathering place for whites. He was told
yes. But nooses appeared in the tree the next day.
Three white students were suspended but not criminally
prosecuted. LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters has said
he could find no state law covering the act.
The incident was followed by fights between blacks and whites
that culminated in the attack on Justin Barker, who was knocked
unconscious on school grounds. According to court testimony, his
face was swollen and bloodied, but he was able to attend a school
function that night.
Five of the teens were originally charged with attempted
second-degree murder — charges that have since been reduced for
four of them. The sixth was booked as a juvenile on sealed charges.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)