Prosecutor won't fight ruling that sent
black teen’s case to juvenile court
JENA, La. - Bail was set at $45,000 for Mychal Bell, a black teenager once charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white classmate, a LaSalle Parish sheriff’s office official told NBC News.
Also Thursday, District Attorney Reed Walters confirmed that he will no longer seek an adult trial for Bell — one of the group known as the "Jena 6" — as part of a case that drew tens of thousands of protesters to Jena last week.
Reed Walters announcement, Video from CNN (4:00).
Walters credited the prayers of people in this small central Louisiana town with averting a “disaster” during the demonstration. Some critics of Walters considered that a slap against the peaceful marchers.
The conviction in adult court was thrown out this month by the state 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal, which said Bell should not have been tried as an adult on that particular charge.
The ruling means that Bell, who had faced a maximum of 15 years in prison on his aggravated second-degree battery conviction last month, cannot get anything close to that sentence in the case.
This from MSNBC. (Pundit Video)
Meanwhile: WAVY TV (Norfolk VA) reports: The FBI says it is investigating a Roanoke, Virginia man who posted the personal information of the "Jena 6" students on his website, urging white supremacists to "deliver justice" by lynching them. Bill White calls himself the Commander of the American National Socialist Workers' Party.
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