Teenager in Jena Six Pleads Guilty to Lesser Charge

Source: New York Times, The Associated Press

Teenager in Jena Six Pleads Guilty to Lesser Charge

JENA, La., Dec. 3 (AP) — A black teenager whose prosecution in the beating of a white classmate led to one of the largest civil rights protests in recent years pleaded guilty Monday to a battery charge that could result in his release from a detention center in about eight months.

The youth, Mychal Bell, 17, was originally charged as an adult with attempted murder in the beating of Justin Barker in December 2006. That charge was reduced before a jury convicted him in June of aggravated second-degree battery. An appeals court threw that verdict out in September and ordered Mr. Bell retried as a juvenile.

Under the deal, Mr. Bell pleaded guilty to a juvenile charge of second-degree battery in return for an 18-month sentence, with credit for the 10 months he has already served. He had faced being placed in a juvenile facility until his 21st birthday.

Mr. Bell also must pay court costs plus $935 to Mr. Barker’s family, testify if his co-defendants in the Barker attack stand trial, undergo counseling and be reintegrated into the school system, his lawyers said.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/us/nationalspecial/04jena.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin

People were so wrapped up in the over-kill of the initial charge that the fact that he assaulted someone in the first place was put on the back burner. I've been in one or two school related scrapes and unlike this case no-one was ever knocked unconscious or assaulted after they were no longer capable of defending themselves.

And yes, the white people who committed assault prior to this incident should have been charged as well. That they weren't doesn't negate Bell's actions.

Bell pleads to lesser charge rather than finally charged in accordance with LAW.

In case anyone else wants to see this