Bell's Attorney: Incompetent or Smart?

[TrueSeeker]

Bell's attorney did not call one single character witness to defend his client, not even his parents. Why would he do this? Maybe some legal eagles on here will know the answers. If one character witness has stated that Bell was good kid or was not one to get into trouble, would this not have gave the prosecution the right to open his juevinile records in his trial? Anyone know?

[William Anthony]

Bell's attorney did not call one single character witness to defend his client, not even his parents. Why would he do this? Maybe some legal eagles on here will know the answers. If one character witness has stated that Bell was good kid or was not one to get into trouble, would this not have gave the prosecution the right to open his juevinile records in his trial? Anyone know?

Are you talking about the trial or the sentencing phase?

[TrueSeeker]

Are you talking about the trial or the sentencing phase?

The trial, the sentencing phase isn't until September 20. The juevinile records were released during a hearing to reduce the bond which happened on September 4, IIRC.

[William Anthony]

The trial, the sentencing phase isn't until September 20. The juevinile records were released during a hearing to reduce the bond which happened on September 4, IIRC.

I do not think that Bell's character was at issue in the trial. Since the convictions were juvenile convictions, I do not think they could have been introduced as prior bad acts. The issue of character may become germaine during sentencing.

[TrueSeeker]

I do not think that Bell's character was at issue in the trial. Since the convictions were juvenile convictions, I do not think they could have been introduced as prior bad acts. The issue of character may become germaine during sentencing.

Bell's character was not an issue in his trial?:confused: Are you kidding me?

[Athena]

I haven't seen what the other charges were against Bell. I see two of them were against property and one was an assault but there is no further detail I have seen so I won't pass judgement on what he was charged with.

The attorney was court-appointed and allegedly was friends with the DA. It appears the appeal will be based upon his lack of defending his client. JMO

I did find this re: juvenile law and records in many states, but I don't see Louisiana mentioned:

http://www.rcfp.org/juvcts/index.html

[TrueSeeker]

I haven't seen what the other charges were against Bell. I see two of them were against property and one was an assault but there is no further detail I have seen so I won't pass judgement on what he was charged with.

The attorney was court-appointed and allegedly was friends with the DA. It appears the appeal will be based upon his lack of defending his client. JMO

I did find this re: juvenile law and records in many states, but I don't see Louisiana mentioned:

http://www.rcfp.org/juvcts/index.html

The defense attorney was friends with the DA? Do you have proof of that?

[Athena]

The defense attorney was friends with the DA? Do you have proof of that?

I used the word allegedly because it was Mychal Bell's father who said it.

[Athena]

Ineffective Assistance of Counsel: What Blane Williams should have known

Reflections in the wake of the Mychal Bell trial

Partisan witnesses
* The ten student witnesses who testified at Mychal Bell’s trial were all white. In fact, most of them were part of a distinct minority within
the high school’s white student population who attended all-white schools in the country surrounding Jena until High School. (More on this below)
* Justin Cooper was the only witness at trial to testify that Mychal Bell kicked Justin Barker as the victim lay unconscious on the ground.
Since Justin Cooper was one of the boys who admitted to hanging the nooses at Jena High School at the beginning of the school year, he can hardly be seen as an objective or credible witness. Defense Attorney Blane Williams was apparently unaware of Cooper’s connection to the noose incident.
* Jessica Hooter was one of four trial witnesses who identified Mychal as the person who threw the first punch at Justin Barker. Two days after the assault occurred, Jessica was unable to identify the initial attacker. But as she explained at trial, “After I thought about it more, I remembered more.” In his closing remarks, Blane Williams never mentioned that she had embellished her earlier testimony. Perhaps he forgot.
* The single male juror graduated from High School with Justin Barker’s father. The tendency to sympathize with an old school buddy whosekid got punched and kicked in a one-sided assault is understandable. It also makes objectivity impossible.
* Midway through the trial, assault victim Justin Barker and his family were seen by ten witnesses (myself included) sharing a convivial meal with several of the students who had testified against Mychal Bell. This suggests that a number of “memory-enhancing” conversations about the incident have taken place between early December and late June. Jessica Hooter likely “remembered” that the unidentified attacker was Mykal Bell because this quickly became the orthodox story in the social circle she move in.

Ms. Martin’s list
* At trial, special education teacher Kristy Martin listed off the names of the boys who surrounded Justin Barker as if they were clear in her memory. Although she was forced to admit that she never saw a single student touch Justin Barker, Martin’s ability to name names seemed very convincing. Martin is the only witness thus far who has provided a list of attackers longer than three names.
* In a written statement, given immediately after the incident, Coach Wayne Spence states that he was taking names of rowdy students in the gym during the lunch hour. “I had a list that Ms. Martin obtained from me,” he wrote. This suggests that Kristy Martin specifically asked Spence for the list of names the day of the fight. This explains why she is the only witness to remember more than two or three members of the Jena 6. Most eye witnesses can’t identify a single assailant by name. Most of the students who gave eyewitness statements after the December 4 altercation at the school make references to “a bunch of black kids”.

The witness no one called
* Coach Benjy Lewis gave two statements immediately after the school incident in which he clearly states that Justin Barker was facing him when Malcolm Shaw (not Mychal Bell) struck Barker from behind. “I saw Malcolm Shaw hit Justin Barker with his right fist to the right side of Justin’s head, right around the temple,” Lewis wrote. “Justin went down face first, knocked out . . .” Most witnesses agree that a single punch knocked Barker out cold. The only adult who witnessed the punch says Mychal Bell didn’t throw it.
* In a signed statement given immediately after the altercation at the school, student Jesse Beard stated that moments after the assault Coach Manning asked him where Malcolm Shaw was.
* It isn’t hard to see why the prosecution didn’t call Lewis to the stand (his testimony would have devastated the state’s case); but how do we explain why defense attorney Blane Williams didn’t call the coach to testify?
* Several people (myself included) noticed Mychal Bell repeatedly handing his attorney pieces of eyewitness testimony during the trial. This suggests that Williams entered the courtroom utterly unprepared for trial.

The green jacket theory
* Two female students testified that the person who knocked Justin Barker cold was wearing a green jacket. Mychal Bell’s statement, given immediately after the incident, suggests that he was initially cleared of responsibility because he was wearing a black jacket. At trial, the “green jacket” witnesses were convinced that Mychal Bell was not the attacker-they knew Mychal and the guy in the green jacket was someone else.
* The “green jacket” identification means that we have at least three mutually contradictory eyewitness accounts of who struck Justin Barker: Mychal Bell, Malcolm Shaw, or an unidentified student in a green jacket.
* Both “green jacket” witnesses insist that Justin Barker was knocked cold, not by a punch to the temple, but by having his head slammed into a concrete bench. Coach Benjy Lewis says that Justin Barker was knocked cold from a punch from behind. Witnesses who name Mychal Bell as the attacker describe a face-to-face confrontation followed by a blow to the head that knocked Justin Barker out. Defense attorney Blane Williams never reflected on the evidence long enough to identify these obvious contradictions.

If Lewis is right; Bell is innocent
* The fact that Justin Barker cannot remember who hit him argues in favor of Coach Lewis’s blow-from-behind account. It must also be remembered that Lewis was the only adult who directly witnessed the assault. He was also the only non-partisan eye witness. If Lewis is telling the truth, the witnesses who identify Mychal Bell as the initial attacker are either confused or, like Jessica Hooter, they are victims of a false sense of concreteness produced by the continual retelling the story in the company of partisan friends.

http://friendsofjustice.wordpress.com/2007/07/02/ineffective-assistance-of-counsel-what-blane-williams-should-have-known/

[Athena]

Democracy Now Video: Jena 6's reaction to the nooses:

http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2007/07/15/update-the-jena-six-need-your-voice/

[TrueSeeker]

Democracy Now Video: Jena 6's reaction to the nooses:

http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2007/07/15/update-the-jena-six-need-your-voice/

When the Jena Six was arrested for beating Barker they never mentioned the nooses, not one single time. Basically, they were ticked at Barker for running his MF mouth as one witness heard them say as the beating began. The nooses didn't come into play until after they lawyered up.

[TrueSeeker]

I used the word allegedly because it was Mychal Bell's father who said it.

Oh, OK. I will see if I can find any info to clarify this statement.

[Athena]

When the Jena Six was arrested for beating Barker they never mentioned the nooses, not one single time. Basically, they were ticked at Barker for running his MF mouth as one witness heard them say as the beating began. The nooses didn't come into play until after they lawyered up.

Sorry but I disagree. The situation had escalated from the time the nooses were hung. Simply the nooses were written off as a prank but I can assure you that a black person seeing nooses hung from a tree would not think it was funny. JMO

Hanging wads of toilet paper from a tree is a prank (and most HSs do this). There is absolutely no comparison.

[TrueSeeker]

Sorry but I disagree. The situation had escalated from the time the nooses were hung. Simply the nooses were written off as a prank but I can assure you that a black person seeing nooses hung from a tree would not think it was funny. JMO

Hanging wads of toilet paper from a tree is a prank (and most HSs do this). There is absolutely no comparison.

The situation was bad at school long before the nooses. I don't think the nooses was a funny prank at all. It was wrong and very offensive.

[William Anthony]

Bell's character was not an issue in his trial?:confused: Are you kidding me?

No, I was not. Why do you think his character was an issue. The issues were was someone assaulted and did the assualt rise to the level of an aggravated assault and did Bell commit the assault, was some one battered, etc was there a conspiracy, etc.

Rule 404(a) of the Federal Rules of evidence prohibits the use of character evidence providing that such evidence of a person's character or trait of character is not admissible for the purpose of proving that a person acted in conformity therewith on a particular occasion. Bell's character was not an element of the crime.

[William Anthony]

When the Jena Six was arrested for beating Barker they never mentioned the nooses, not one single time. Basically, they were ticked at Barker for running his MF mouth as one witness heard them say as the beating began. The nooses didn't come into play until after they lawyered up.

The nooes were there before the beating. You think that nooses hanging from an alleged all white tree is only offensive to Blacks. I would think the nooses would be demoralizing and threatening. A cross burning in a yard has led to churches being burned and people being murdered. A noose is a sign of murder.

[TrueSeeker]

Ineffective Assistance of Counsel: What Blane Williams should have known

Reflections in the wake of the Mychal Bell trial

Partisan witnesses
* The ten student witnesses who testified at Mychal Bell’s trial were all white. In fact, most of them were part of a distinct minority within
the high school’s white student population who attended all-white schools in the country surrounding Jena until High School. (More on this below)
* Justin Cooper was the only witness at trial to testify that Mychal Bell kicked Justin Barker as the victim lay unconscious on the ground.
Since Justin Cooper was one of the boys who admitted to hanging the nooses at Jena High School at the beginning of the school year, he can hardly be seen as an objective or credible witness. Defense Attorney Blane Williams was apparently unaware of Cooper’s connection to the noose incident.
* Jessica Hooter was one of four trial witnesses who identified Mychal as the person who threw the first punch at Justin Barker. Two days after the assault occurred, Jessica was unable to identify the initial attacker. But as she explained at trial, “After I thought about it more, I remembered more.” In his closing remarks, Blane Williams never mentioned that she had embellished her earlier testimony. Perhaps he forgot.
* The single male juror graduated from High School with Justin Barker’s father. The tendency to sympathize with an old school buddy whosekid got punched and kicked in a one-sided assault is understandable. It also makes objectivity impossible.
* Midway through the trial, assault victim Justin Barker and his family were seen by ten witnesses (myself included) sharing a convivial meal with several of the students who had testified against Mychal Bell. This suggests that a number of “memory-enhancing” conversations about the incident have taken place between early December and late June. Jessica Hooter likely “remembered” that the unidentified attacker was Mykal Bell because this quickly became the orthodox story in the social circle she move in.

Ms. Martin’s list
* At trial, special education teacher Kristy Martin listed off the names of the boys who surrounded Justin Barker as if they were clear in her memory. Although she was forced to admit that she never saw a single student touch Justin Barker, Martin’s ability to name names seemed very convincing. Martin is the only witness thus far who has provided a list of attackers longer than three names.
* In a written statement, given immediately after the incident, Coach Wayne Spence states that he was taking names of rowdy students in the gym during the lunch hour. “I had a list that Ms. Martin obtained from me,” he wrote. This suggests that Kristy Martin specifically asked Spence for the list of names the day of the fight. This explains why she is the only witness to remember more than two or three members of the Jena 6. Most eye witnesses can’t identify a single assailant by name. Most of the students who gave eyewitness statements after the December 4 altercation at the school make references to “a bunch of black kids”.

The witness no one called
* Coach Benjy Lewis gave two statements immediately after the school incident in which he clearly states that Justin Barker was facing him when Malcolm Shaw (not Mychal Bell) struck Barker from behind. “I saw Malcolm Shaw hit Justin Barker with his right fist to the right side of Justin’s head, right around the temple,” Lewis wrote. “Justin went down face first, knocked out . . .” Most witnesses agree that a single punch knocked Barker out cold. The only adult who witnessed the punch says Mychal Bell didn’t throw it.
* In a signed statement given immediately after the altercation at the school, student Jesse Beard stated that moments after the assault Coach Manning asked him where Malcolm Shaw was.
* It isn’t hard to see why the prosecution didn’t call Lewis to the stand (his testimony would have devastated the state’s case); but how do we explain why defense attorney Blane Williams didn’t call the coach to testify?
* Several people (myself included) noticed Mychal Bell repeatedly handing his attorney pieces of eyewitness testimony during the trial. This suggests that Williams entered the courtroom utterly unprepared for trial.

The green jacket theory
* Two female students testified that the person who knocked Justin Barker cold was wearing a green jacket. Mychal Bell’s statement, given immediately after the incident, suggests that he was initially cleared of responsibility because he was wearing a black jacket. At trial, the “green jacket” witnesses were convinced that Mychal Bell was not the attacker-they knew Mychal and the guy in the green jacket was someone else.
* The “green jacket” identification means that we have at least three mutually contradictory eyewitness accounts of who struck Justin Barker: Mychal Bell, Malcolm Shaw, or an unidentified student in a green jacket.
* Both “green jacket” witnesses insist that Justin Barker was knocked cold, not by a punch to the temple, but by having his head slammed into a concrete bench. Coach Benjy Lewis says that Justin Barker was knocked cold from a punch from behind. Witnesses who name Mychal Bell as the attacker describe a face-to-face confrontation followed by a blow to the head that knocked Justin Barker out. Defense attorney Blane Williams never reflected on the evidence long enough to identify these obvious contradictions.

If Lewis is right; Bell is innocent
* The fact that Justin Barker cannot remember who hit him argues in favor of Coach Lewis’s blow-from-behind account. It must also be remembered that Lewis was the only adult who directly witnessed the assault. He was also the only non-partisan eye witness. If Lewis is telling the truth, the witnesses who identify Mychal Bell as the initial attacker are either confused or, like Jessica Hooter, they are victims of a false sense of concreteness produced by the continual retelling the story in the company of partisan friends.

http://friendsofjustice.wordpress.com/2007/07/02/ineffective-assistance-of-counsel-what-blane-williams-should-have-known/

No one wanted to use Lewis as a witness. Why? He had been charged a while back with lewd conduct with a co ed.

[Athena]

But TS there were NO defense witnesses called. And BTW - that's a very heavy accusation you made against Lewis to post on a message board with no supporting documentation and if true, why is he still there? JMO

[TrueSeeker]

But TS there were NO defense witnesses called. And BTW - that's a very heavy accusation you made against Lewis to post on a message board with no supporting documentation and if true, why is he still there? JMO

Lewis still there? I will have to check that out. I heard he had resigned about the same time Mack Fowler resigned. Hmm, now I am curious. I'll let you know what I find out.

[William Anthony]

Lewis still there? I will have to check that out. I heard he had resigned about the same time Mack Fowler resigned. Hmm, now I am curious. I'll let you know what I find out.

Was Lewis charged and covicted or charged and cleared?

[Athena]

Williams had rested his case Wednesday without calling any witnesses, a decision criticized by some of Bell's supporters but one he defended Thursday. "People who watched this whole trial saw that it was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt on these two charges," Williams said.

Williams told the jury that Walters had failed to prove that Bell had even taken part in a crime, much less an attack with a weapon. A day earlier Barker had testified that he was struck from behind and immediately went unconscious; there was conflicting testimony from witnesses as to whether the initial attacker was Bell and whether that attacker was wearing a green hooded jacket or a red shirt.

Williams also sought to raise doubt about Barker's testimony that he still suffers headaches and forgetfulness since the beating. He noted a nurse's testimony that Barker had a history of migraines before the fight. "If I say I have memory loss, can anybody know if I have it?" Williams asked.

As for the conspiracy charge, Williams said high school students usually congregate in the same, cliquish groups all the time. That does not constitute a conspiracy, he argued.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19488285/