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NATIONAL
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What Now With Jena? All Eyes Turn to Other Defendants
by Valencia Mohammad
Special to the NNPA from the Afro-American Newspapers
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - Marcus Jones, the father of lead defendant in the controversial Jena 6 case couldn't have been any clearer.
''They sold Mychal out,'' Jones said of the legal team representing Mychal Bell. ''I just don't understand it.''
Jones was as stunned as much of America and the world to the news that Mychal Bell, 17, had pleaded guilty in the racially charged case that has ignited claims of judicial bias and ignited Black activisim not seen since the days of the Civil Rights Movement.
The news that Bell had agreed to an 18-month sentence and to pay restitution to the White teenager he now admits beating has caused many now to focus on the remaining five defendants, who will be offered the same plea agreement as Bell.
It has also caused some to question Bell's legal team, which sought the agreement with the LaSalle County District Attorney's office.
Bell's attorney, Robert Nowell, said he advised Bell to accept the plea bargain because the district attorney's office had ''overwhelming evidence to convict him.''
Louis Grandison Scott, Bell's lead attorney, said he told Bell he was prepared to take the case ''all the way through,'' however, he thought the judge would probably convict Bell and sentence him to more than 18 months.
Even if they had won an appeal of the conviction, Scott said, Bell would have already have swerved more than the 18 months in the plea bargain.
Bell pleaded guilty to second degree battery for punching Justin Barker, a White teenager.
The incident followed months of racial tension, sparked originally when three White teens hung nooses from an oak tree the day after a group of Black students violated an unofficial rule among students that only Whites sit in that are.
Bell, who is currently in custody for violation of probation on a previous juvenile conviction, will receive credit for the time he has already served in connection with the case.
Bell was in custody previously while awaiting trial on the charges and later served time after he was convicted as an adult by an all-White jury even though he was 16 at the time of the offense.
An appellate court ruled that Bell should not have been tried as an adult and ordered his release. He was placed in custody again shortly after his release for violating probation on the previous conviction. Under the agreement, Bell could be released in June.
Under the plea, Bell has also agreed to testify against the other defendants in the case.
LaSalle District Attorney Reed Walters said his office will offer the same plea agreement to the other defendants in the case.
Katrina Wallace is stepsister to Robert Bailey, another defendant in the case. She aid she thought Bell should have pled guilty.
''I thought it was the right thing for him to do,'' she said. ''He had a past. He could not afford to take chances with this judge.''
She declined to discuss Bailey's case.
Jim Boren, Bailey's attorney, refused to comment on how Bell's guilty plea and agreement to testify could affect his client. He also declined to comment on whether he and Bailey will consider the district attorney’s offer.
John Jenkins, father of Carwin Jones, a defendant who was an adult at the time of the assault, said he was surprised Bell pled guilty.
''We weren't expecting anything like this at this time,'' Jenkins said.
Jenkins said the family and his son are preparing to go to trial.
According to Jones' attorney, Mike Nunnery, a trial is set for January.
There has been no trial date set for Jesse Ray Beard, the youngest defendant in the case. One of his attorneys, David J. Utter, said his client is doing fine and is in school.
The case of the Jena, La., defendants has generated intense criticism across the country.
Bell and his co-defendants became the subject of the television, radio, newspapers, emails, listservs, blogs, Web sites and text messages among youth around the world.
Thousands of college students and others from across the nation rallied in the small town in September to protest what they said was unequal treatment. They said they White defendants should also have been charged for their part in the various brawls.
Ryan Simmons is a little known defendant in the case linked to the Jena 6 by way of an altercation and gun theft two days before the Barker incident. His attorney, William Whatley, said there has been no activity on the case.
Whatley said he is confident that he can win his client's case.
''I can beat the DA,'' he said. ''My case is winnable. We will not take a plea.''
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