Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Jena 6 Plea Deal Emerges



See the Afrosphere Press Release

Mychal Bell, who is now 17, has agreed to a plea bargain with LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters. The plea deal dramatically reduces the originally trumped up charges against the youth who has come to be known as one of the Jena 6.
To the relief of many who have been watching this case unfold, Mychal Bell will get credit for the nine months he spent in jail awaiting trial, and his legal team advises that he could be released by June.

In addition Walters offered in a statement Monday that he hopes to have the remaining Jena 6 cases resolved "early next year."

"A trial would be very bad for the town, very bad for Reed Walters, very bad for anybody in Jena associated with the process, and it could turn out very bad for the defendants as well," said Alan Bean, head of the civil rights group 'Friends of Justice' who was the first activist to call attention to the Jena case. "It had the potential for being a perfect storm in which everybody lost."



Both sides of the argument agree.


Source: Electronic Village

3 comments:

Derrick said...

Hey Zoe, I put out a press release this afternoon for the Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition here: http://lionrunner777.newsvine.com/_news/2007/12/04/1140881-mychael-bell-plea-not-the-end-of-fight-for-justice

I then emailed it to my contacts in the media. If you want to send or post it elsewhere you can.

Also, just so you'll know, Mychael bell is now 18, though he was 17 at the time of the incident.

PurpleZoe said...

Nice.
Thanks for the heads up.
I added the press release link to the entry above.

Old School Fridays said...

I guess this resolution is better than nothing. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing, I am really indifferent.