Blogging for Justice - The Jena 6

For those of you who did not know, I was born and raised in Baton Rouge, LA. I love being in Louisiana because it's such a warm and fun community but it saddens me to see that racism is still alive and well here. And you know what? It didn't just start with the Jena 6. Cases like this has been going on for years.

Not even five years ago, I heard that separate proms for whites and blacks still exist here. But the question now is: When is it going to stop? When is the media going to make the Jena 6 [and other cases like it] national news and not just local so that we can start moving toward social equality? I pray that the answer is now. Doesn't America deserve to live in peace?

In the meantime for my part - I collected as much information as I could about the case for you and organized it in a way that you can stay in one spot for all the information you need. Make sure you take part in the cause in any way you can! It doesn't matter whether it's signing the petition or simply spreading the news. Let the media know that it's time to free the Jena 6 Now!

P.S. I did not forget about the missing women - with this case being a racial issue as well I felt like they deserve as much exposure as these women.

The Case:

Last fall, when two Black high school students sat under the "white" tree on their campus, white students responded by hanging nooses from the tree. When Black students protested the light punishment for the students who hung the nooses, District Attorney Reed Walters came to the school and told the students he could "take [their] lives away with a stroke of [his] pen." Racial tension continued to mount in Jena, and the District Attorney did nothing in response to several egregious cases of violence and threats against black students. But when a white student--who had been a vocal supporter of the students who hung the nooses--taunted a black student, allegedly called several black students "nigger", and was beaten up by black students, six black students were charged with second-degree attempted murder. Last month, the first young man to be tried, Mychal Bell, was convicted. He faces up to 22 years in prison for a school fight.




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More detailed story: Finalcall.com
Young Black males the target of small-town racism
By Jesse Muhammad

JENA, La. (FinalCall.com) - Marcus Jones, the father of 16-year-old Jena High School football star Mychal Bell, pulls out a box full of letters from countless major colleges and universities in America who are trying to recruit his son. Mr. Jones, with hurt in his voice, says, “He had so much going for him. My son is innocent and they have done him wrong.”

An all-White jury convicted Mr. Bell of two felonies—aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery—and faces up to 22 years in prison when he is sentenced on July 31. Five other young Black males are also awaiting their day in court for alleged attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder charges evolving from a school fight: Robert Bailey, 17; Theo Shaw, 17; Carwin Jones, 18; Bryant Purvis, 17; and Jesse Beard, 15. Together, this group has come to be known as the “Jena 6.”


“This town has always had a history of racism towards the Black man,” said Mr. Jones to the Final Call. “I am going to continue to fight for justice for my son.”

Jena, a small town still considered segregated in rural Louisiana, is the largest in LaSalle Parish with a population of nearly 3,000. Of that number, 85 percent are White, while there are only 350 Blacks in the entire area.

The trouble surrounding this case began in September 2006. At Jena High School, Black and Whites sit separately from one another outside during their school breaks—Whites under the shaded “White tree,” and Blacks on worn out benches. One day, Black student asked permission from a school official to sit under the “White tree,” and the official told them to sit wherever they wanted, so the Black student did. The following day, three nooses were seen hanging from the “White tree,” which upset the Black students who make up only 20 percent of the school’s population.

The school principal found the three White students responsible and advised that they were to be expelled from school permanently. The White superintendent of LaSalle Parish schools, Roy Breithaupt, overturned the principal’s decision and instead gave the White students a three-day suspension. In statements made to the media, Superintendent Breithaupt said “Adolescents play pranks. I don’t think it was a threat against anybody.” Black parents, students and residents disagreed and became upset.

“That’s a federal hate crime when those White students hung up those nooses. I don’t care what anybody says,” Mr. Jones told The Final Call. “A three-day suspension was a slap in the face of us as Blacks in this town.”

Students began to voice their disgust and protest against the “slap on the wrist” the three White students received for what many are calling a hate crime. According to the parents of the Jena 6 and a testimony given in Mr. Bell’s trial, White District Attorney Reed Walters then visited Jena High School to address a school assembly, making remarks directed at the Black students that if they didn’t stop making a fuss about this “innocent prank,” he could take their lives away with the stroke of his pen. As a result of a fire that burned down the main building where classes are held at Jena High School on November 30, 2006, Whites in the community started to blame the Blacks students of the school as the cause of the fire.

But the racial tensions at the school would spill over into the community and erupt into a series of incidents that led to the charges against the Jena 6:

On the night of December 1, 2006, Robert Bailey and his friends went to a party at Jena Fair Barn. Once inside the party, Robert was approached by a White male named Justin Sloan, who asked him “Is your name Robert Bailey?” When Robert said yes, Mr. Sloan, along with his sister Jessie, began to hit Robert, and from there, he was also attacked by several other White men before his own friends came to assist him in the brawl.

According to Robert’s mother, Caseptla Bailey, the police who came on the scene told the Black youth that they need to get back to their side of town. The next day, on December 2, Robert and two of his friends were at the local Gotta-Go convenience store. They spotted Matt Windham, one of White males who attacked Robert the previous night. An altercation started and Mr. Windham ran to his truck and pulled out a sawed-off shot gun, which Robert was able to wrestle away from him. The fight ensued and eventually all involved left the scene running.

Two days later, on December 4 at Jena High School, a White male student by the name of Justin Barker had been allegedly making racial taunts at the Blacks, which included calling them “n-----s” and expressing support for the noose hanging, as well as the attack made on Robert Bailey at Fair Barn. Right outside the school auditorium, Mr. Barker was suddenly knocked down, punched, beaten and kicked by Black students. According to interviews with The Final Call, parents of the Jena 6 stated that school officials randomly pointed out White students to write statements describing what they saw, as well as identify what Black students were involved in the fight or were just standing around during the fight. Moments later, after several statements were collected, six Black males were taken out of their classes, arrested and charged.

Many of the Jena 6 remained in jail for several months due to the high bails set between $70,000-$140,000 on them. All are talented athletes with what their families called “bright futures.”

“We had to put up property to bail out my son,” stated Ms. Bailey. “My son is innocent. This is a disgrace and it only manifested the racism that has always existed in this town and this country. They are attacking our young Black males so we have to fight.”

Tina Jones, the mother of Bryant Purvis, agreed. “My son was not involved in this fight. This is pure racism.”

Mr. Bell’s family was unable to bail him out and his father believed that is the reason his son’s case went to trial so quickly. A Black court-appointed attorney, Blaine Williams, represented Mr. Bell, pressuring him to plead guilty, but Mr. Bell refused. His attorney then gathered a list of proposed witnessed which included his father and mother, Michelle Bell. The judge put a gag order on all witnesses in the case and refused to allow his parents to be present in the court during the trial because they were potential witnesses although the victim, who was a witness, was allowed to stay inside the entire time.

When Mr. Bell’s father asked the defense lawyer to appeal the gag order so they can be inside the courtroom with their son, the lawyer replied “The best thing for you to do is to get the hell out of my face.”

“At that point I smelled a rat and I knew my son was being set up,” stated Mr. Jones to The Final Call. He also shared that the jury was all White, and that members of the jury were friends with the District Attorney as well as family members with the victim. The prosecution brought forth 17 witnesses of whom many stated that they did not see Mr. Bell hit Mr. Barker. The victim himself even testified that he did not know if Mr. Bell hit him or not. The defense lawyer did not call any witnesses and rested his case. After three hours of deliberation, Mr. Bell was convicted and is currently awaiting sentencing.

Members of the Houston Millions More Movement Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and the Muhammad’s Mosque No. 45 Fruit of Islam visited the families of the Jena 6 on July 14 to conduct an fact-finding mission along with The Final Call.

“Our mission to Jena made clear to me that the “old south” is not so old that it is not without a pulse and heartbeat,” stated Deric Muhammad, Houston MOJ Spokesman. “The U.S. congress and Black America doesn’t have to strain its eyes toward Darfur or South Africa to see apartheid and/or genocide. We need look no further than Jena, Louisiana.”

The Black residents have been mobilizing the last few months with protests, organizing meetings, developed a NAACP branch headed by Secretary Catrina Wallace and created the Jena 6 Defense Fund Committee. They are planning a major protest on the steps of the Jena courthouse on the day of Mr. Bell’s sentencing and are calling on everyone to support.

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Videos


Photo Story of Jena 6


Day 1 Jena 6 Trail


Day 2: Jena 6 Trail


Day 3: Jena 6 Trail


Day 4: Jena 6 Trail


Day 5: Jena 6 Trail

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Comprehensive Look at the Case: Friends of Justice

Reflections in the wake of the Mychal Bell trial

Partisan witnesses
* The ten student witnesses who testified at Mychal Bell’s trial were all white. In fact, most of them were part of a distinct minority within
the high school’s white student population who attended all-white schools in the country surrounding Jena until High School. (More on this below)
* Justin Cooper was the only witness at trial to testify that Mychal Bell kicked Justin Barker as the victim lay unconscious on the ground.
Since Justin Cooper was one of the boys who admitted to hanging the nooses at Jena High School at the beginning of the school year, he can hardly be seen as an objective or credible witness. Defense Attorney Blane Williams was apparently unaware of Cooper’s connection to the noose incident.
* Jessica Hooter was one of four trial witnesses who identified Mychal as the person who threw the first punch at Justin Barker. Two days after the assault occurred, Jessica was unable to identify the initial attacker. But as she explained at trial, “After I thought about it more, I remembered more.” In his closing remarks, Blane Williams never mentioned that she had embellished her earlier testimony. Perhaps he forgot.
* The single male juror graduated from High School with Justin Barker’s father. The tendency to sympathize with an old school buddy whosekid got punched and kicked in a one-sided assault is understandable. It also makes objectivity impossible.
* Midway through the trial, assault victim Justin Barker and his family were seen by ten witnesses (myself included) sharing a convivial meal with several of the students who had testified against Mychal Bell. This suggests that a number of “memory-enhancing” conversations about the incident have taken place between early December and late June. Jessica Hooter likely “remembered” that the unidentified attacker was Mykal Bell because this quickly became the orthodox story in the social circle she move in.

Ms. Martin’s list
* At trial, special education teacher Kristy Martin listed off the names of the boys who surrounded Justin Barker as if they were clear in her memory. Although she was forced to admit that she never saw a single student touch Justin Barker, Martin’s ability to name names seemed very convincing. Martin is the only witness thus far who has provided a list of attackers longer than three names.
* In a written statement, given immediately after the incident, Coach Wayne Spence states that he was taking names of rowdy students in the gym during the lunch hour. “I had a list that Ms. Martin obtained from me,” he wrote. This suggests that Kristy Martin specifically asked Spence for the list of names the day of the fight. This explains why she is the only witness to remember more than two or three members of the Jena 6. Most eye witnesses can’t identify a single assailant by name. Most of the students who gave eyewitness statements after the December 4 altercation at the school make references to “a bunch of black kids”.

The witness no one called
* Coach Benjy Lewis gave two statements immediately after the school incident in which he clearly states that Justin Barker was facing him when Malcolm Shaw (not Mychal Bell) struck Barker from behind. “I saw Malcolm Shaw hit Justin Barker with his right fist to the right side of Justin’s head, right around the temple,” Lewis wrote. “Justin went down face first, knocked out . . .” Most witnesses agree that a single punch knocked Barker out cold. The only adult who witnessed the punch says Mychal Bell didn’t throw it.
* In a signed statement given immediately after the altercation at the school, student Jesse Beard stated that moments after the assault Coach Manning asked him where Malcolm Shaw was.
* It isn’t hard to see why the prosecution didn’t call Lewis to the stand (his testimony would have devastated the state’s case); but how do we explain why defense attorney Blane Williams didn’t call the coach to testify?
* Several people (myself included) noticed Mychal Bell repeatedly handing his attorney pieces of eyewitness testimony during the trial. This suggests that Williams entered the courtroom utterly unprepared for trial.

The green jacket theory
* Two female students testified that the person who knocked Justin Barker cold was wearing a green jacket. Mychal Bell’s statement, given immediately after the incident, suggests that he was initially cleared of responsibility because he was wearing a black jacket. At trial, the “green jacket” witnesses were convinced that Mychal Bell was not the attacker-they knew Mychal and the guy in the green jacket was someone else.
* The “green jacket” identification means that we have at least three mutually contradictory eyewitness accounts of who struck Justin Barker: Mychal Bell, Malcolm Shaw, or an unidentified student in a green jacket.
* Both “green jacket” witnesses insist that Justin Barker was knocked cold, not by a punch to the temple, but by having his head slammed into a concrete bench. Coach Benjy Lewis says that Justin Barker was knocked cold from a punch from behind. Witnesses who name Mychal Bell as the attacker describe a face-to-face confrontation followed by a blow to the head that knocked Justin Barker out. Defense attorney Blane Williams never reflected on the evidence long enough to identify these obvious contradictions.

If Lewis is right; Bell is innocent
* The fact that Justin Barker cannot remember who hit him argues in favor of Coach Lewis’s blow-from-behind account. It must also be remembered that Lewis was the only adult who directly witnessed the assault. He was also the only non-partisan eye witness. If Lewis is telling the truth, the witnesses who identify Mychal Bell as the initial attacker are either confused or, like Jessica Hooter, they are victims of a false sense of concreteness produced by the continual retelling the story in the company of partisan friends.
* Most of the prisoners recently exonerated on the basis of unassailable DNA evidence were wrongfully convicted by confident
eyewitnesses. Memory doesn’t work like a photograph; recollections change dramatically with time. We often see what we want to see.
* All this contradictory evidence makes it impossible to identifyJustin Barker’s assailant with any confidence.
* All those identifying Mychal Bell were highly partisan observers clearly identified with one side of a longstanding and unresolved feud
between the “country” white students who hung the nooses in a tree at the high school and the black male athletes who were particularly outraged by this hate crime (see more on this below).
* On balance, the most persuasive testimony by far comes from Coach Lewis-and neither the prosecution nor the defense called Lewis to testify at Mychal Bell’s trial.

A chaotic scene
* In signed statements, several black and white eyewitnesses referred to students running to and from the scene of the assault. Justin Barker was clearly struck on the face and then intentionally kicked while he lay on the ground. However, it is impossible to determine which of Justin Barker’s bruises and abrasions were the result of intentional assault and which may have been the unintentional result of a panic-induced stampede. All witnesses agree that the scene was utterly chaotic with students moving wildly in every direction. Defense attorney Blane Williams never raised this obvious question.
* Several of the Jena 6 defendants freely admit that they were close to the altercation. This isn’t surprising when we realize that the shout of “fight” at a high school always brings students running to the scene.

“With a stroke of my pen”* In early September, the three white students responsible for hanging nooses in a tree in the school courtyard were punished with a few days of in-school suspension. The noose incident was dismissed as a childish prank. The following day, black students staged a spontaneous protest rally under the tree where the nooses had been discovered. Several black male athletes took the lead in this protest-the same students who were eventually accused of attacking Justin Barker.
* The decision to treat the noose incident as a childish prank sparked a brief firestorm of media attention in which Jena school officials were frequently accused of racism.
* In early September, District Attorney Reed Walters addressed an emergency school assembly called in response to the spontaneous student protest. With a dozen fully uniformed police officers in the auditorium, Walters warned protest organizers that with a stroke of his pen he could take their lives away. Walters has admitted under oath that he made this remark. His words were not aimed at the entire student body, nor at black students in general-he was speaking to the student athletes we now call the Jena 6. After the demonstration under the tree, Robert Bailey, Carwin Jones, Mychal Bell, Theodore Shaw, Jesse Beard and Bryant Ray Purvis became
notorious.

A descending spiral of violence
* Evidence suggests that some teachers and school administrators were empowered by Mr. Walters’ “stroke of my pen” remark. Defendants report that in the wake of the school assembly, several teachers became increasingly strict and adversarial in relation to the boys responsible for associating Jena High School with Jim Crow racism. It appears that some students responded to this change in attitude by withholding respect and acting out in ways that encouraged an even more authoritarian teacher response. Discipline referrals for the Jena 6 skyrocketed during the fall semester.

* In the period between Mr. Walter’s “stroke of my pen” threat in September and the assault on Justin Barker in early December, a series of physical altercations played out between the Jena 6 and the circle of boys who supported the hanging of the nooses. The white students had attended all-white schools in the countryside prior to coming to the integrated high school campus. They felt reassured by the segregated school courtyard and were intimidated by the suggestion that black students could sit wherever they wanted. Hence the nooses.
* The laughably light discipline handed down for this “childish prank” was perceived, correctly, as a triumph for students wishing to preserve a segregated school square.

A fire, a fight, and a firearm
* In signed statements, several white and black students mentioned a series of verbal altercations during the lunch hour preceding the attack on Justin Barker. The trash-talking was directly related to a fight at the Fair Barn three days earlier. On that occasion, Robert Bailey and a few of his friends were invited to an all-white student party by some of their white friends. When Robert entered the building he was punched in the face by a 22 year-old white male. In seconds, Robert was assaulted with beer bottles, punches and kicks in a virtual mirror image of the altercation at the high school three days later. The only differences were that the identify of the instigator in the Fair Barn incident was undisputed and that Robert remained conscious after the initial blow and was thus able to minimize the impact of the attack.
* The following morning, Robert Bailey and two of the friends who had come to his aid during the Fair Barn assault were leaving a local
convenience store when they encountered one of the country white males who had jumped Robert the night before. Fearing retaliation, the boy retreated to his truck and pulled out a pump-action, pistol-grip shotgun that looks like something the Terminator might have fancied. When Robert and his friends wrestled the weapon away from their would-be assailant they were charged with assault and theft. Once again, Jena’s New Jim Crow regime was reinforced.
* It is not unusual for residents of rural LaSalle Parish to drive around with firearms in their trucks. On May 10, 2007, Justin Barker was
arrested for bringing a rifle to school in his vehicle. A thorough search probably would have turned up several more illegal firearms in the school parking lot.
* The violent assault at the Fair Barn, the convenience store incident, and the assault at the school followed in the wake of a traumatic
school fire in late Novermber. Everyone associated with the school was in a state of shock akin to post traumatic stress syndrome. Concerned by the wave of violence, several teachers asked administrators not to reopen the school the Monday morning of the assault.

Running his mouth
* Student statements suggest that the student who attacked Justin Barker was responding to taunts that Robert Bailey “had his butt kicked” at the Fair Barn. In the course of this verbal jousting, several students report that Justin Barker “got up in Mychal’s face” and gave Mychal the finger. Tony Knapp, one of three boys who admitted to hanging nooses earlier in the school year, was also involved in this lunch hour altercation. At trial, District Attorney Reed Walters created the misleading impression that Barker was attacked by black thugs looking for a random white victim. He knew better.
* Several eyewitnesses recall that the initial punch was preceded by the shouted words, “This will teach you to run your mother f***ing mouth.” This statement, repeated by too many witnesses to be seriously doubted, makes no sense apart from the trash talking described in student statements.

The sins of the fathers
* This background information demonstrates that the black male students who attacked Justin Barker were bound to a steadily escalating chain of violence and counter-violence.
* This spiral of action and reaction was initiated by the September decision of school administrators to treat the noose incident as a childish prank. When Reed Walters threatened the Jena 6 with life imprisonment if they didn’t relinquish their constitutional right to denounce injustice, the boys were left with no legitimate avenue of protest. In the end, immature white and black males were left to their own devices. The consequences were as predictable as they were tragic.
* The ultimate responsibility for the violence at Jena High School lies at the feet of public officials who refused to acknowledge a hate crime
for what it was. The sins of the fathers are now being visited upon the children.

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Updates after the trail

Defense Attorney says Bell case should be in juvenile system

Bell, the first of the "Jena Six" to face trial in the adult justice system, was 16 when arrested and charged with attempted murder in connection with a December incident at Jena High School.

Bob Noel, one of the team of defense attorneys from Monroe who took on Bell's case pro-bono, said a juvenile can't go through the adult justice system unless he or she is charged with one of a few crimes such as murder, aggravated kidnapping, rape and attempted murder. Bell was convicted of aggravated second-degree battery, not one of the specific charges.

But Pete Adams, executive director of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, said the court that starts with jurisdiction retains it.

This is an excerpt from the code that governs which court would handle a juvenile's case:

"The court exercising criminal jurisdiction shall retain jurisdiction over the child's case, even though he pleads guilty to or is convicted of a lesser included offense. A plea to or conviction of a lesser included offense shall not revest jurisdiction in the court exercising juvenile jurisdiction over such a child."

But Noel pointed out that the adult system would retain jurisdiction only if the jury came back with the lesser charge or if Bell pleaded to that charge. That wasn't the case for Bell, he said.

If the arrest of judgment -- the motion that would void the conviction in adult court and throw it into the juvenile system -- is denied, Noel said the attorneys also have filed a motion for a new trial citing improper representation by Bell's previous attorney.

The other attorneys defending Bell along with Noel are lead attorney Louis Scott, Lee Perkins, Peggy Sullivan and Carol Powell-Lexing. All of the attorneys are members of the 4th Judicial District Indigent Defenders Board.

Bell is still being held in lieu of $90,000 bond. A bond reduction hearing is set for Aug. 24. His sentencing is set for Sept.

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Bell denied bond due to criminal history

In addition to Mychal Bell's recent felony conviction, his criminal history was revealed Friday to contain four other violent crimes.

Because of that, a LaSalle Parish judge denied the 17-year-old bond in his current scrape with the law.

Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr., with the 28th Judicial District Court, went over the factors in Louisiana code used to determine bail, pointing out specifics in Bell's case:

The seriousness of the offense: "It is a serious offense because it is a crime of violence," he said.

The weight of the evidence against the defendant: Mauffray said it was "pretty weighty" considering the jury convicted Bell.

The previous criminal record of the defendant: He said a criminal record was obviously present considering that Bell had been adjudicated on three offenses that were committed while he was on probation and then convicted this year in adult court.

The nature and seriousness of the danger to any other person or the community that would be posed by the defendant's release: Again, Mauffray pointed out that Bell now has either been adjudicated or convicted of five crimes of violence.

Whether the defendant is currently out on bond on a previous felony arrest: He cited Bell's presence on probation and the fact that there were three other cases -- not including the case Bell is currently in jail for -- awaiting disposition.

"Past behavior is the best prediction of future behavior," Mauffray said.

A motion hearing is scheduled for Sept. 4. Bell's attorneys are hoping their client's adult conviction will be voided and the case remanded to juvenile court. If that motion is denied, attorneys have filed a motion for a new trial based on insufficient defense counsel for Bell among other things.

Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 20.

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How to Help

-Sign the Petition

-Write a letter to Governor Blanco

-Send Mychal Bell your support:

Mychal Bell
Inmate, A-Dorm
LaSalle Correctional Center
15976 Highway 165
Olla, LA 71465-4801

-Other Contacts:

Jena 6 Defense Committee
PO Box 2798
Jena LA 71342
Email: jena6defense@gmail.com

Friends of Justice
507 N. Donley Ave
Tulia TX 79088
Website: www.fojtulia.org

ACLU of Louisiana
PO Box 56157
New Orleans LA 70156
Website: www.laaclu.org

Other links

Offical Jena 6 Website

Democracy Now: The Case of the Jena 6

Deocracy Now: "A Modern Day Lynching"

Hundreds march in Jena, LA in support of the Jena 6

Searching for Justice in Jena 6 Case

NPR: Beating Charges Split La. Town Along Racial Lines

CNN Video on the Case

"Free the Jena Six" tshirts banned from Jena High School

NPR: Searching for Justice