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Judge Mauffray’s odious revenge: jailing Mychal Bell

By Carmen D. on Friday, October 12th, 2007, 11:27 pm Comments

As the facts come in, the situation becomes clear. Judge J.P. Mauffray appears to be using his position on the bench to pursue a personal vendetta against Mychal Bell and perhaps all of us determined to fight for justice for all defendants in the Jena Six case.

Mychal Bell, 17, was unexpectedly sent back to prison on Thursday after going to juvenile court in central Louisiana’s LaSalle Parish for what he expected to be a routine hearing, Carol Powell Lexing, one of his attorneys said.

Instead, state District Judge J.P. Mauffrey Jr. decided Bell had violated probation and sentenced him to 18 months in jail on two counts of simple battery and two counts of criminal destruction of property, Lexing said.

“This matter was unrelated to the December 2006 event at Jena High School, and that case was not even mentioned in the court proceedings,” District Attorney Reed Walters said Friday. Mychal Bell of the `Jena 6′ Back in Jail, AP

The father of Mychal Bell says a judge in Jena Louisiana, has revoked Bell’s probation because of an old drug charge that had never been tried. “Jena Six” teen Mychal Bell back in jail, WHCP, CBS, AP

According to the Chicago Tribune, this is a highly unusual development and appears to contradict Louisiana law.

It was unclear why Mauffray decided to send Bell to jail on the prior charges. The judge has ordered all the proceedings in Bell’s case to be closed and directed all the lawyers in the case not speak about it publicly.

Other experts on Louisiana’s juvenile laws said that Mauffray’s decision to jail Bell on the earlier charges appeared to run counter to the state’s juvenile statutes.

“I don’t know the motivation for this judge and the district attorney, but what they did goes against the grain of our own juvenile code, which holds that home and the community is the best place to treat juveniles,” said David Utter, an attorney and founder of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana. Utter is representing one of the Jena 6 defendants. Jena 6 teen’s return to jail draws queries. Howard Witt, Chicago Tribune

There were a lot of flippant challenges made in comments sections around the web this morning, about whether “they” would come down “here” and march again now that the Judge has imprisoned Bell and attempted to bankrupt the Bell family. Well, it looks like WE might have to do just that.

Hat tip to Blackamazon for staying on the facts.

  • stickler
    Bell's bail was for the Barker beating. It can be overridden by unrelated charges and/or convictions (or adjudications in the case of juvie).

    One of the local papers quoted Bell's lawyer as also saying the revocation was unrelated to Barker's beating. I didn't note the link because otherwise the article didn't add anything.

    I would imagine that given the sketchy quotes from both lawyers that the judge reviewed their statements before their release to the media.

    I'm sure a Congressional hearing can unseal a juvie record. They would almost have to if Bell's ex-girlfriend and grandmother testify.
  • Now I'm interested. Thanks for digging further.
  • Blair
    ABC is also reporting that Bell was sentenced for charges pending rather than violating parole.

    JENA, La. - A teenager at the center of a civil rights controversy is back in jail after a judge sentenced him on charges that were pending before the attack that put him in the national spotlight, his attorney said Thursday.
    Mychal Bell, who along with five other black teenagers had been accused of beating a white classmate, went to juvenile court Thursday expecting another routine hearing, said Carol Powell Lexing, one of Bell’s attorneys.
    Instead, after a six-hour hearing, state District Judge J.P. Mauffrey Jr. sentenced him to 18 months on two counts of simple battery and two counts of criminal destruction of property, Lexing said."

    The article is on the MSNBC website at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21038363/

    Notice that Bell's attorneys are free to discuss the sentencing.

    I think the confusion may turn out to be that Bell was on parole for one of the previous offenses while sentencing was pending on one of the other offenses. The AP and Reuters will probably publish more details next week.
  • ...we just don't know WHY Bell was sent to jail...
  • And Blair, because of the Judge's GAG order, we just don't know Bell was sent to jail. And given that GAG order, why would Reed Walters be speaking to the press about this matter anyway?

    Doesn't that strike you as inappropriate?

    I really would like to know the whole truth. It is customary for parents to be allowed to speak about hearings. Why should Reed Walter's assessment go uncorroborated?
  • You stated AP...twice.

    As I suspected Blair, there is a single source for this analysis of the case. That source is of all people Reed Walters. Critical thinking suggests that I should trust his analysis of this case as much as I trust his assesment that Jesus prevented black folk from goin' all crazy like in Jena. Come on.
  • Blair
    My source was Reuters, not the AP.

    "Walters said Bell's sentence in juvenile court was postponed after he and five other black teen-agers were charged with attacking a white Jena, Louisiana, high school classmate in December 2006 after months of racially charged incidents in the central Louisiana town of 3,000.

    "As I earlier pointed out, Mychal Bell had four dispositions, as they are known in Louisiana juvenile court, before the so-called Jena Six case occurred," Walters said in a statement.

    Walters declined further comment on Bell's incarceration because juvenile cases are not public record under Louisiana law, as in most U.S. states.
  • Please send me YOUR source. I just looked at three AP articles...updated several hours ago:

    "Mychal Bell, 17, was unexpectedly sent back to prison on Thursday after going to juvenile court in central Louisiana's LaSalle Parish for what he expected to be a routine hearing, Carol Powell Lexing, one of his attorneys said.

    Instead, state District Judge J.P. Mauffrey Jr. decided Bell had violated probation and sentenced him to 18 months in jail on two counts of simple battery and two counts of criminal destruction of property, Lexing said."

    I look forward to seeing you source. Thanks.
  • Blair
    According to the Associated Press, Bell's sentencing on the previous conviction was postponed when he was charged in the beating of Justin Barker. In other words, he wasn't on parole but had never been sentenced for the previous convictions. Once an appellate court overtuned his conviction for aggravated assault in the Justin Barker case, the sentencing process in the previous convictions resumed. He was sentenced to 18 months in a juvenile detention facility. His previous convictions on multiple charges of battery and destruction of property predate both the noose-hanging incident and the beating of Justin Barker.
  • Hi Blair, welcome to the conversation. Just to clarify: you are correct about the assault and simple battery charges being the ones that Bell was jailed for. But, WHY was probation revoked? It was NOT the battery of Justin Barker which AP had indicated earlier. See Reed Walters comments, it did not even come up at the hearing. Remember, Bell had been SENTENCED TO PROBATION as is the usual sentence in Louisiana according to legal experts. The only indication we have as to WHY Mychal Bell's probation was ended is the comment from Bell's father which may have violated the Judge's odd gag order. Please take another look at the post. Thanks for helping to keep up the information.
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