Excuse me, but the Jena Six judge needs to go. You heard it here second, folks, but the man in the black robe is a menace to society. And thank god the Louisiana court of appeals recognized this and sent the man to the showers.
Judge J.P. Mauffrey Jr. was rightfully tossed from the hotly debated New Orleans case for basically saying the accused innocents who stood before him were guilty and he knew the right punishments to fit their crimes. And all this before anyone’s heard any evidence about anything. Jeesh. The prescient man on the bench didn’t seem to know when to keep his mouth shut or how to keep his biased opinions to himself.
Dale Hickman, the attorney who represents one of the youthful defendants, Bryan Purvis, believes Mauffrey’s removal to be good news. The attorney didn’t think it was in his client’s best interests that the judge considered the co-defendants as “six thugs.” No chance to get a fair trial by waiving the jury and trying this case in front of this judge.
Court documents said that “Judge Mauffrey has expressed his belief generally that Jesse Ray [Beard] and his African-American friends are guilty, not only of the misconduct alleged in this matter, but of several other acts of misconduct as well.”
Beard is one of six black Jena High students accused of beating a white student during a school fight in December of 2006. The case drew national headlines when the teens were initially charged with second-degree attempted murder after they allegedly knocked their victim, Justin Baker, out while stomping and kicking him. The severe charges triggered angry protests, which led to the charges being reduced to aggravated second-degree battery.
This was another passionate case where a District Attorney overcharged the defendants. Although this case possessed serious racial overtones, it parallels Brandon McInerney’s case in another distinct respect: Both cases begged for the public to become involved.
With the “Jena Six”, the public outcry over the racial issues regarding the trumped-up charges appear to have helped persuade the prosecutors to rethink their prosecutorial strategies. Instead of sticking to their guns and pursuing the absurdity of the attempted murder charges for a racially charged high school fight, they reduced them to battery charges, which carry much lesser sentences for the young defendants. This will give the teens a chance to get their acts together and integrate them back into society as productive citizens.
In the Brandon McInerney case, Senior Deputy District Attorney Maeve Fox filed charges against Brandon McInerney that nearly assured Brandon will spend the next 51 years of his life in an adult prison. The public has begun to respond and may need to apply additional pressure to governmental officials. It’s important for Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten to understand that his office has made some questionable decisions in prosecuting this case. Mr. Totten and Senior Deputy District Attorney Maeve Fox, who personally filed the charges against Brandon McInerney, may need to step back and reconsider the gravity of trying such a young boy in an adult court, where a near-death sentence awaits him.
