Thursday, September 20, 2007

JENA 6 Timeline of Events-

August 31, 2006- A black student asks permission to sit under the "white tree." A school administrator replies, "you can sit whereveryou want."-

September 1, 2006- Three nooses in school colors are found hanging from the "white tree." -

September 7, 2006- The three students responsible for hanging the nooses were found. The principal recommends them for expulsion.

-September 8, 2006- The superintendent overruled the principal's decision, calling it a harmless prank. The responsible students were instead suspended.-(no confirmed date available)- The District Attorney and several police officers came out to the school for an impromptu assembly afterseveral reports of "trouble" at the school. The District Attorney told the students that if they didn't stop making a fuss about the "innocent prankā€¦ I can be your best friend or your worst enemy. I can take your lives away with a stroke of my pen."-


November 30, 2006- A fire burns down the main academic building of Jena High School . Investigators ruled that it was arson.

-December 1, 2006- A black student, Robert Bailey, attends a "white party," is beaten and has a bottle broken over his head. One person was later charged with simple battery for the beating and received probation.

-December 2, 2006- A fight is reported at the Gotta Go convenience store outside of Jena . Investigators say three students beat a man and took his shotgun. The students, one of whom was Robert Bailey- the victim of the beating at the party the previous night, say the man, who was also at the party, pulled a sawed off shot gun on the students. They wrestled the gun away from him and ran away. (The students were later charged with theft of the firearm, second-degree robbery, and disturbing the peace.)

-December 4, 2006- White student, Justin Barker, was allegedly with the students responsible for hanging the nooses, saying racial slurs and taunting Robert Bailey about being beaten up at the party on December first. Later, he was knocked unconscious (either by the first punch or from hitting the ground), punched, and kicked while he was down by a group of black students. An ambulance was called. Barker was conscious by the time it arrived. He was taken to the hospital, treated and released within three hours for injuries to his ears, face, and eyes. Barker was well enough to attend a school ring ceremony later that night.

-December 5-6, 2006- Six black students are arrested and charged with aggravated second-degree battery. They were: Robert Bailey Jr, age 17. Bail amount: $138,000. Theo Shaw, age 17. Bail amount: $130,000. Carwin Jones, age 18. Bail amount: $100,000. Bryant Purvis, age 17. Bail amount: $70,000. Mychal Bell, age 16. Bail amount: $90,000. An unnamed minor. -

December 7, 2006- The District Attorney announces that the charges against all six have been upgraded to attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder.

-December 15, 2006- It is announced that Mychal Bell, age 16, will be charged as an adult. -

January 3, 2007- Purvis, Jones, and the unnamed juvenile post bail and are released from jail.-

January 6, 2007- Relatives announced that all six students involved in the fight (dubbed the " Jena 6") have been expelled from school.

-May 2, 2007- Robert Bailey Jr. is also released from jail. Mychal Bell and Theo Shaw remain incarcerated.

-May 10, 2007- The victim of the Dec. 4 fight, Justin Barker, is arrested for bringing a gun onto the Jena High School campus. The gunwas found in his truck.-June 25, 2007- Mychal Bell's trial begins. The District Attorney reduced the charges against Bell to second-degree aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery, both of which are still felonies. (In the state of Louisiana , for something to be consideredaggravated battery a deadly weapon must be used. The District Attorney said the deadly weapons in this case were the shoes he was wearing.)

-June 26, 2007- None of the 50 people who show up for jury duty are black. The 6 person jury selected is an all-white jury. There areallegations that all of the jury members knew a witness expected to be called during the trial. One jury member was a high school classmate of the District Attorney, another is friends with the mother of the victim, Justin Barker.

-June 27, 2007- The prosecutor called 17 witnesses, who all had varying testimonies. Some said they didn't see Bell hit Baker. Somesaid they saw Bell kick the victim. The victim, Justin Barker, said he didn't see anything and didn't know if Bell was one of the people who hit him. - Bell was represented by a court appointed public defender, Blane Williams. The public defender did not call a single witness.- Bell 's parents were not allowed to be in the courtroom during the proceedings because they were listed as potential witnesses by their son's attorney. They were never called to testify.

-June 28, 2007- The jury deliberated for fewer than three hours and found Bell guilty on the charges of second degree battery andconspiracy to commit second degree battery. With this sentence, he could face up to 221/2 years in prison.

-August 2007- Civil rights groups and activists such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Rev. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and Martin Luther King III get involved. They visited Jena , held rallies, and helped Bell get new representation for an appeal before he is supposed to be sentenced.

-August 15, 2007- Bell 's attorneys file a motion to void his conviction.

-August 16, 2007- One of Bell 's attorneys says the case should be tried in juvenile court instead of adult court.

-August 24, 2007- A judge denies Mychal Bell bond because of four previous incidents, including two previous simple battery charges, he has on his record.

-August 29, 2007- "Free the Jena 6" T-shirts are banned from being worn at Jena High School .

-September 4, 2007- A judge vacated the conspiracy to commit aggravated battery charge against Bell . It will be handled in juvenile court. The second-degree aggravated assault charge remains. Bell will now only face a maximum of 15 year in prison rather than 221/2.-The charges against Carwin Jones and Theo Shaw were also reduced to second-degree aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit second-degree aggravated battery.

-September 14, 2007- A state appeals court in Louisiana throws out the only remaining conviction against Mychal Bell, saying that he should not have been tried as an adult on the charge of aggravated battery.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home