UPDATE: Prosecutors Will Seek New Trial in Killing of Gay Middle Schooler
The case against Brandon McInerney, who shot and killed a 15-year-old gay fellow student named Larry King execution-style before an entire classroom, is not over. A judge declared a mistrial this week after a jury couldn't agree on the degree of murder charges to find against McInerney. But now prosecutors are pushing for a new trial.
The LA Times, however, reports that McInerney could still get away scot-free. A new trial, if it happens at all, is going to be hard to win:
“These are extremely difficult cases,” said Michael Bradbury, the longtime district attorney in Ventura County.
“The public may see a straightforward murder case, but this case is far more complex, firstly, because of the age of the defendant at the time of the act and, secondly, the manner in which he was raised by his parents, which was clearly dysfunctional and by all accounts horrific,” Bradbury said.
The prosecutors' may have made a mistake by trying to get McInerney convicted as an adult. One of the defense attorneys said they had "overreached." It seems that's part of a pattern:
The district attorney's office was criticized in a report last month released by the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice that showed cases involving youths under the age of 15 are nearly 14 times more likely to be tried in adult court than anywhere else in California.
Now, prosecutors will decide whether to try him as an adult again.
Just to be clear, Im a strong believer in jury trials. In fact, I've tried several on behalf of the same county which prosecuted Mcinerney. Sometimes mistrials should not be retried and sometimes they should. In this case, given the facts of the case and given the defendant's refusal to accept the plea bargain previously offered - 25 years to life - and with the jury split between murder and manslaughter, I believe the prosecutors are correct in their decision to retry and attempt to arrive at an actual verdict. I will, of course, ultimately accept the jury's verdict. Human subjectivity, by the way, is very much a part of the jury system - as prosecutors we frequently invoke the jury's "common sense" - but human subjectivity should not clearly contradict the law, as I believe it did in this case where the jury appears to have been influenced by age (which they were specifically instructed to ignore - admittedly not an easy thing to do for some) and I believe the prosecution is correct in retrying and somehow managing to convince the jurors to do the right thing.
Posted by: John | Sep 3, 2011 10:05:36 PM
Repeat after me: Riots in the streets.
Posted by: Ryan | Sep 4, 2011 12:52:58 AM
I am so tired of "POOR SWEET VICTIM LARRY". Everyone knows what Brandon did was terrible; excepted. But what about Larry's responsibility for his actions. Very little was allowed in court for 3 reasons: he was the ultimate victim; he was under 18 and he's mental problems were a medical condition.
Many people have worked very hard to change the fear and disinformation associated with alternate life styles. Finally the main stream public has not only beginning to loose their fear of a diverse culture but has started welcoming the changes. Larry King was the opposite of what a community should associate with gay. Larry King did everything that homophobic hate mongers use as propaganda to instill fear of gays. Now that the trial is over information about Larry King's behavior is going to start surfacing. Larry King had major problems and did some terrible things. Larry's behavior should be held accountable even if he is dead. The last thing I want for children to learn is that our culture condones Larry's behavior. Brandon's solution to Larry's behavior was beyond horrific and Brandon will be healed accountable. But to understand "WHY", Brandon's frontal lobe development must be taken into consideration., even if he is retried as an adult.
Please read: Adolescence, Brain Development and Legal Culpability
http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/criminal_justice_section_newsletter/crimjust_juvjus_Adolescence.authcheckdam.pdf
Posted by: djs | Sep 4, 2011 10:34:00 AM
@djs: Your posting here is maybe the most rediculous drivel I've read on this site in eons. And some of the worst-spelled, I might add.
Obviously you're a friend of the white-trash defendant in this case-- a little junior Aryan Nation member who executed another person simply because his little feelings were being hurt. Your posting and its illiterate assertions say a lot about the quality of education in Ventura County. And it also says a lot about the hatred white trash up in that part of the state hold against LGBTQ people.
I think we should get a website up listing all of the places in the world where LGBTQ people's safety cannot be guaranteed. You know: All of Africa, Jamaica, the Caymans, Wyoming, Iowa, Texas outside of Austin, Ventura County, CA, etc. And we LGBTQ folk need to start fighting back.
"Out, proud and perfectly willing to beat the sh!t out of bashers" should be our watchcry.
Posted by: One of the CA 36,000 | Sep 6, 2011 12:54:21 PM