WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Mychal Bell's Fate Left in the Hands of Juvenile Court
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Governor Kathleen Blanco says the district attorney in LaSalle Parish in one of the so-called "Jena Six" cases has decided not to challenge an appellate ruling that sends the case to juvenile court.
Mychal Bell, whose second-degree battery conviction was overturned after an appeals court said he should have not been tried as an adult, had remained in jail pending a possible appeal by prosecutors.
The case now goes to the juvenile courts, which must now decide Bell's fate.
Governor Blanco and the Reverend Al Sharpton met Wednesday to discuss the case of the six black teenagers who were initially charged with attempted second-degree murder after a white classmate was beaten.
Sharpton went to the Capitol to discuss a variety of issues surrounding the case, which last week sparked one of the biggest civil rights demonstrations in years. More than 20,000 people converged on the small town of Jena to protest the case.
