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Mychal Bell, of the 'Jena 6', has reached a plea deal

by ryan | December 3, 2007 at 03:29 pm

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The Jena 6 saga continues with the news of Mychal Bell reaching a plea deal. The teen was originally charged with attempted murder in the beating of a fellow classmate, a charge which was thrown out by the appeals court in favour of aggrevated second degree assault. The plea deal will charge Bell with juvenille second degree battery - a charge that carries 18 months in prison, 10 of which have already been served.

A black teenager may get out of a juvenile facility in about eight months after a deal was struck Monday with prosecutors in the beating of a white classmate that sparked a major civil rights demonstration amid cries that his treatment was unduly harsh.

Mychal Bell, now 17, originally was 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. In September, that verdict was thrown out by an appeals court that said Bell should be tried as a juvenile.

Under the deal, 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 already has served. Without a deal, Bell faced being placed in a juvenile facility until his 21st birthday.

Bell also must pay court costs plus $935 (€638) to the Barker family and he must testify truthfully in court if any other of his co-defendants in the Barker beating go to trial.

"This was a way to put a close to an event at a time when everyone had reasons to want it settled," said Louis Scott, one of Bell's lawyers.

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ifindtrends

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at 23:49 on December 3rd, 2007

No matter what our opinions are one way or another, this is an important case. Although it is not without controversy, the case has brought out the fact that racism is still playing a role in our society and the youth.
A lot has changed for the better in the last 50 years and that is something we need to be proud of and thank the people who started a movement. But we still need to work to make a change until racism is almost diminished.
There is the issue of justice in this case as well and I am going to leave that alone for now, but instead focus on the fact that the problem between the youths, as big as it was, should have been stopped by the community leaders, school officials, and parents before it got this far. This is where it needs to start, at home.
Hopefully this case has not fueled the fire too much and instead brought out more people who are disgusted by the hate on both sides and are willing to stand up and say something next time so that we don;t have another Jena6