Tribe.net. Local Connections Shocka http://angryblackmen.tribe.net/thread/3614a7bc-aad8-4528-b79c-a24f595592c9#8996284a-a785-42d5-b1ee-7ba517e061d6 2007-07-02T00:13:03Z 2007-07-02T00:13:03Z

By Abbey Brown abrown@thetowntalk.com July 1, 2007 JENA, La. -- After deliberating for less than three hours Thursday, an all-white jury of six returned with a unanimous guilty verdict on the highest possible charges for the first member of the "Jena Six" to face trial. Mychal Bell, 17, could be as old as 40 when released from jail if given the maximum sentence for aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit that crime -- more than 22 years. He was 16 when the incident took place. Bell is one of six black teens charged in a Dec. 4 fight at Jena High School that left Justin Barker -- white -- unconscious. The attack and arrests have made headlines from Chicago to China and have been held up as the culmination of racial unrest in Jena. Bell and the others arrested -- Theo Shaw, Robert Bailey Jr., Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis and an unnamed juvenile -- were charged with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit the same, although Bell's charges were reduced Monday without explanation just before the trial started. Sentencing is scheduled for July 31. http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070629/NEWS01/706290325

Shocka 2007-07-02T00:13:03Z