http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/09/26/jena.six/index.htmlBATON ROUGE, Louisiana (CNN) -- The case of Mychal Bell, a black teenager accused of beating a white classmate in Jena, Louisiana, will be heard in juvenile court, Louisiana's governor announced Wednesday.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco said that she discussed Bell's case with LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters on Wednesday, and that Walters agreed not to challenge a state appeals court ruling that dismissed Bell's battery and conspiracy convictions.
The court ruled that Bell, who was 16 at the time of the beating, should have been tried in juvenile court instead of having the case transferred to adult court.
Blanco made the announcement with civil rights leaders Martin Luther King III and Al Sharpton.
Last week, they led about 15,000 marchers to the small town of 3,000 to protest how authorities handled the cases of Bell and five other teens accused of beating high school student Justin Barker.
The altercation was a culmination of racially tense events in the town, including two fights sparked by an incident in which three white teens hung nooses from an oak tree on high school
YOU THINK THE GOV GOT A LOL PRESSURRE?
