Judge Allows Manslaughter Charge in McInerney Trial; Lawrence King's Killer Could Get as Little as 14 Years

Jurors will be able to consider a voluntary manslaughter charge in the trial of Brandon McInerney, who shot his gay classmate Lawrence King in the head in an Oxnard, California courtroom in February 2008, the Ventura County Star reports:

"I think it is too risky and we have gone on too long and there is too much invested in this to take a risk with an appellate judge who might disagree," Ventura County Superior Court Judge Charles Campbell said.

Conviction on a first-degree murder charge would bring a mandatory 50-year sentence, but a manslaughter sentence ranges from four to 11 years, along with a 10-year enhancement for using a gun. McInerney will have to be found not guilty of first- and second-degree murder by all 12 jurors for them to consider the manslaughter charge.

The paper adds: "Decisions must be unanimous or the jury is hung. A first-degree murder is one of premeditation; manslaughter is a homicide committed in the heat of passion. McInerney also faces a hate crime charge that carries a one- to three-year sentence."

Closing arguments are set to begin Thursday morning.

Brandon McInerney Won't Testify About Killing Gay Classmate

The defense today rested its case in the trial of Brandon McInerney, who shot his gay classmate Lawrence King in the head at their school in Oxnard, California in February 2009, the L.A. Times reports:

Defense lawyers rested their case Monday without calling to the witness stand the youth who killed fellow eighth-grader Larry King before two dozen horrified classmates and a teacher at E.O. Green Junior High in Oxnard.  Defense attorney Scott Wippert told the court that McInerney, now 17, made the choice not to testify...

...The defense contends that McInerney entered into a “dissociative state” and was driven to a sudden irrational act by a violent upbringing and by what he felt as sexual harassment by King. Defense lawyers are asking that the jury be allowed to consider a charge of voluntary manslaughter instead of murder.

The Ventura County Star adds:

The prosecution is calling one more rebuttal witness, a psychologist who is expected to refute testimony by a psychologist the defense put on the stand. This means closing arguments in the trial could be heard in the next few days, and the jury would start deliberating shortly thereafter.

Lawrence King Murder Not A Hate Crime, Says Defense Witness

A former police officer testifed on behalf of Brandon McInerney's defense yesterday to argue that the 17-year old was not motivated by hate or white supremacism when he shot and killed gay classmate Lawrence King in February of 2008.

Via the Los Angeles Times:

Randal Hecht, an investigator called by the defense, testified Wednesday that most white supremacists don’t have black or Latino friends, as McInerney, now 17, did. 

Prosecutors contend that a sympathy for white supremacists fueled McInerney. But in his testimony, Hecht -- a former Riverside police officer who has investigated crimes involving neo-Nazis — suggested the 2008 shooting of King in a computer  lab at E.O. Green Junior High was no hate crime.

Hecht, who delivered mostly yes-no answers in more than six hours on the witness stand, agreed with defense attorney Scott Wippert when he contended that personal conflict—not ideology—was at the heart of the slaying.

A girl in the computer lab testified earlier in the six-week trial that she was openly gay. Numerous other students in the room were black or Latino, including some who said they were friends with McInerney.

“If Brandon McInerney solely shot Larry King because of bias aagainst gays or those he perceived as gay, wouldn’t you expect him to turn the gun on Maria and shoot her?” Wippert asked.

Meanwhile, a defense psychologist claimed McInerney was in a "dissociative state" when he pulled the trigger, an act he admits. That argument seems dubious, because McInerney reportedly told a prison counselor that he had planned the fatal attack.

The trial, which is not getting the press attention it deserves, will wrap up next week.

Defense in Brandon McInerney Case Suggests Lawrence King Asked for What He Got by Sexually Taunting His Killer

The L.A. Times reports that in the trial of Brandon McInerney for the murder of classmate Lawrence King, the defense has been loading up the "he asked for it" witnesses:

How school officials handled King has emerged as a major theme of McInerney's defense attorneys, who acknowledge that the boy pulled the trigger but say that he was pushed to the breaking point by King's taunts.

That King taunted McInerney:

It wasn't just that King, 15, had begun wearing makeup and women's spiked-heeled boots, witnesses testified. It was that he seemed to relish making the boys squirm at his newly feminized appearance and was taunting them with comments like "I know you want me."

And gay panic drove him to put a bullet in King's brain:

On the following Monday, the grievance was denied by the school's administration, Ekman said. King, meanwhile, continued to clash with boys at school and paid special attention to McInerney, according to court testimony. After lunch that day, he passed McInerney in a corridor and mockingly said, "Love you baby!"

History teacher Arthur Saenz testified that on that same Monday, Feb. 11, 2008, he noticed King "parading" back and forth in high-heeled boots and makeup near a bench where McInerney was sitting after school waiting to be picked up. A group of boys was laughing as McInerney grew visibly angry, Saenz testified.

Closing arguments are likely next week.

At Lawrence King Murder Trial, Killer's Iraq War Veteran Brother Testifies That Nazi Materials are His: VIDEO

Brandon McInerney's Iraq war veteran brother Brian testified at the teen killer's trial yesterday that Nazi materials, including an Iron Cross medal and a video called, "Shooting in Realistic Environments" belong to him and not his brother.

The Ventura County Star reports:

The prosecution is arguing Brandon was a white supremacist who shot King because he was gay. The defense has argued the various drawings Brandon had of Nazi symbols merely reflected his interest in history.

Brian said some of the doodles found in Brandon's room seem to incorporate historical symbols of swastikas and eagles. But Ventura County Senior Deputy District Attorney Maeve Fox also showed him one that had the swastika with the words "white pride world wide" on it.

Brian also testified that he and Brandon had taken the .22 revolver used in the murder of Lawrence King with them to target practice, according to the Star.

And more today...

Watch a MyFOXLA report which says the jury was very responsive to Brian McInerney's testimony, AFTER THE JUMP...

Brandon McInerney's Brother Testifies Teen Killer Was Sexually Abused: VIDEO

In a second round of testimony in defense of his brother Brandon McInerney, who fatally shot his classmate Lawrence King in the head at their Oxnard school in February 2009, James Bing told the court that McInerney was a victim of sexual abuse as a child.

Bing's previous testimony had focused on physical abuse from the child's father.

Bing spoke with FOX 11 about his testimony, offering excuses for his brother's behavior:

"It kind of all balled up inside of him and then all of this stuff happened with this other boy's sexual advances and he was a young kid with all that going on. It was too much for him to handle. I just hope that the true evidence comes out about who my brother really is. He's not a monster. He's not a white supremacist."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...