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Jena 6 Teen Denied Release

Mychal Bell will stay in jail while his appeal is reviewed

By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 22, 2007 5:48 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Mychal Bell, the black Louisiana teenager in jail since December for the battery of a white classmate, was not released on bail yesterday, as has supporters had hoped. The day after a demonstration that brought 10,000 civil rights activists to the tiny town to protest the treatment of the teenagers, a juvenile court judge denied his request to be freed while an appeal of his conviction is being reviewed.

The only member of the "Jena Six" to be tried for the beating, Bell was convicted of aggravated second-degree battery, but the conviction was overturned on the grounds that, 16 at the time of the attack, should not have been tried as an adult. Bell had a juvenile criminal record prior to the Jena case. At a separate hearing, a judge refused a request from defense attorneys to remove the from Bell's case, the father of one of Bell's co-defendants told the AP.  

Melissa Bell, mother of Mychal Bell, right, cries and hugs her sister, Jennifer, after a hearing for her son at the LaSalle Parish Courthouse in Jena, La., Friday, Sept. 21, 2007. Bell is the only one of the group known as the Jena Six to have been tried so far...
Melissa Bell, mother of Mychal Bell, right, cries and hugs her sister, Jennifer, after a hearing for her son at the LaSalle Parish Courthouse in Jena, La., Friday, Sept. 21, 2007. Bell is the only one...   (Associated Press)
Attorney Carol Powell-Lexing leaves after a hearing for her client Mychal Bell at LaSalle Parish Courthouse in Jena, La., Friday, Sept. 21, 2007. Bell is the only one of the group known as the Jena Six to have been tried so far in the December beating of a white classmate....
Attorney Carol Powell-Lexing leaves after a hearing for her client Mychal Bell at LaSalle Parish Courthouse in Jena, La., Friday, Sept. 21, 2007. Bell is the only one of the group known as the Jena Six...   (Associated Press)
Timeline shows the events of the past year of the Jena six case in Louisiana; 3c x 4 inches; 146 mm x 101.6 mm
Timeline shows the events of the past year of the Jena six case in Louisiana; 3c x 4 inches; 146 mm x 101.6 mm   (Associated Press)
Radio personality Michael Baisden second from left with Rev. Al Sharpton, and Melissa Bell, mother of Mychal Bell wall behind two Louisiana State Troopers that are holding hands during a march in support of the Jena 6 in Jena, La., Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Radio personality Michael Baisden second from left with Rev. Al Sharpton, and Melissa Bell, mother of Mychal Bell wall behind two Louisiana State Troopers that are holding hands during a march in support...   (Associated Press)
Melissa Bell leaves after a hearing for her son Mychal Bell, one of the Jena Six, at LaSalle Parish Courthouse in Jena, La., Friday, Sept. 21, 2007. Mychal Bell is the only one of the Jena Six to have been tried so far in the December beating of a white...
Melissa Bell leaves after a hearing for her son Mychal Bell, one of the Jena Six, at LaSalle Parish Courthouse in Jena, La., Friday, Sept. 21, 2007. Mychal Bell is the only one of the Jena Six to have...   (Associated Press)
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Commentary: How this case turned into a protest march
Boston Globe

A profile of the protesters
State (Columbia, SC)

US

 
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