The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the 12-member jury in the Lawrence King/Brandon trial is hung and that a mistrial will likely be declared. In short, that means the jury could not decide whether to charge McInerney with first-degree murder and hate crime charges or just voluntary manslaughter.
More as this story develops…
Little Kiwi
if McInerney was black and King white then he’d have found been guilty weeks ago and given the maximum sentence, and anyone that says otherwise isn’t living in the reality of America 2011.
What ugliness this has been and will seemingly continue to be.
Cam
Because to some bigots, the victims crime of being gay outweighs the attackers crime of murder.
Little Kiwi
this is ugly but not shocking. let’s remember, this is a country whose legal system has allowed white murderers to be acquitted of lynching black people as recently as 25 years ago.
Remember Dan White? Ten bucks says he’d have gotten life in prison if he’d only shot Mayor Moscone. Dan White shoots the mayor, walks down a hallway, reloads his gun, murders Harvey Milk…..and serves barely 5 years?
Of course. He killed a homosexual. And he’s a white Christian. White Christians aren’t “bad” people, homosexuals are, right? So het murders two elected city officials, and serves less time than Heidi fuckin’ Fleiss.
And here we have McInerney….a sad, deeply troubled and utterly fucked up young man who has no concept of cause and effect nor empathy for those who are different from him. A kid with an abusive (and now dead) junkie father, a junkie mother, and a brother who apparently is obsessed with Naziism. yay.
none of that, however, changes the fact that the dude premeditated the murder of a classmate.
what an awful awful awful situation.
Polyboy
If I ever hear another OJ reference and comments are allowed, I’m going to stab them with this example of injustice.
ewe
If not for Brendan McInerney and his personal heinous behavior Lawrence King would be alive and well today.
Robin
Couldn’t have said it better, Little Kiwi.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
The queer community should riot in the streets. I’ve seen many injustices over the years, but this is so far beyond the pale, that it makes me want to beat the shit out of the next anti-gay bigot I meet, just to try and even the score.
the crustybastard
When the perpetrator has no prior intent to murder and — under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed — acts impulsively and causes the death of another, that’s voluntary manslaughter. The classic example of voluntary manslaughter is “killing your best friend with the side-table lamp when you discover him in bed with your wife.”
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human being with malice aforethought. Murder requires intent and planning.
McInerney felt provoked, stewed on it for a while, decided to shoot King with a deadly weapon, obtained said weapon, secreted it into the schoolhouse then plugged the kid in the back of the head during class.
Seriously, that’s not voluntary manslaughter, that’s fucking HUNTING.
Ja
what is wrong with these fucking juries? First Casey Anthony and now this?
Mike
A kid brings a gun to school and shoots another kid in the head and there’s a mistrial?
Mother fuck, what is the matter with this fucking jury?
Queer Supremacist
What is wrong with these juries? They’re not gay, that’s what’s wrong with them!
Kill all breeders. Seriously. Do to them what they have done to us for 2,000 years. Shove them into the gas chambers they constructed to eliminate anyone who threatened the purity of their filthy Aryan race. Make practicing the two Abrahamic religions most responsible for this shit a felony offense punishable by death. Gays bash back! No justice no peace!
Anyone who makes any anti-gay comments in earshot of me has signed his death warrant.
ron
The little Mexican didn’t get the memo that straight men are off limits.
Jimmy Fury
Wow.
I feel sick.
hol
wow! 7 jurors felt he was guilty of manslaughter 5 felt murder, even his lawyer admitted he was guilty, and still a mistrial?
truth is stranger than fiction sometimes.
Tom
I think he’s a rather good looking boy and doesnt deserve to have his life wasted in jail because of one (albeit big) mistake he did when he was a CHILD. We all sin, we all do wrong, but this was the best possible outcome.
Little Kiwi
thanks TOM, for showing us all that you’re too busy masturbating over photos of McInerney like the paedophile that you are that you’ve forgotten the facts of the trial.
fuck off, and die in a fire. seriously.
Tom
Little Kiwi, you sound like an emotional faggot to be honest. Man up.
Little Kiwi
i’m a proud Out gay man who can put a face and name to his comments, unlike your cowardly ass. Man Up, indeed. Ten bucks says you can’t link to your own page, can ya sugar?
we get it. you wanna fuck McInerney. Well, keep on touching boys like you do and I’m sure you’ll one day be able to share a jail cell 😀
Jimmy Fury
@Tom: did you really just call murder “a mistake”?
Misspelling February is a mistake. Confusing their there and they’re is a mistake. Pocket dialing an ex is a mistake. Shooting another human in the head twice is FUCKING MURDER.
I…. I don’t even know what to say to the rest of what you said. My brain runs on logic and can’t even begin to process that. It just… It can’t.
Little Kiwi
Tom was too busy being dazzled by his masturbatory thoughts of fondling an underage McInerney to be rational. gross, eh?
WaterfordCT
@Tom: I agree with you, mostly. I’d give him ten years, and ten years probation, with major counseling. And if more of you knew all the details of this case, from McIn’s f–ked-up family life to the torment he was getting at school from those encouraging King to go after him you’d agree. It was a powder keg. I don’t blame King, who was another sad angry character from a family that didn’t want him, but I do blame the school officials for letting it continue.
Little Kiwi
nobody is denying that McInerney was utterly made into the unfeeling monster that he is. Doesnt’ change the fact that he committed cold blooded, premeditated, murder and thus is a danger to himself and others.
“encouraging King to go after him”? Fuck you Uncle Tom. The kid was standing up for himself and indeed using what was previously used against him and throwing it back at his tormenters.
i experienced the same thing when i was in high school. the guys who used to call me “fag?” They sure didn’t like when i embraced being who i am, and threw it right back at them. Nothing pisses off a bigot more than you showing them that they can’t hurt you – McInerney is a textbook example of an angry abused bully who felt emasculated by his intended victim.
I’ve read the case details, so unless you think you’ve got some inside scoop no one else is privy to you can piss off.
he needs a LOT of counseling. jeffrey dahmer was on a kid, too.
Hyhybt
But you don’t get to sentencing until after a conviction… which there won’t be unless they retry the case. Had they settled even on manslaughter he’d at least have gotten something, and had they settled on murder there could still be a relatively light sentence.
(The comments on the linked article are horrible.)
Mr. Enemabag Jones
@WaterfordCT:
If you’re gay, I hope next time you hit on a straight guy, he doesn’t give you two taps to the back of the head.
WaterfordCT
@Mr. Enemabag Jones: He won’t because I won’t dress in half-drag and keep going after him day after day to the laughter of classmates who all hated Mc (and hated King too).
Little Kiwi
OH, now i get it Waterford…it’s King’s fault for being a gender-nonconformist. “going after him?” ah, yes. as a response to bullying.
we get it. you’re one more sadsack homosexual whose father fucking resented having to call you Son.
what did you do, eh? Beg daddy to love you? promise to not being like those femme stereotypical gays and maybe he’d hug you again one day?
yes yes, you guys are all the same. “half-drag”. right. as if that’s inherently harmful and justification for what happened.
Waterford, you deserve to be the embarrassment to your father that you are. And don’t deny that you’re not. You know damn well your father would un-fuck your mother and erase you from his life if he were given the choice. Guys like you always blame people like King for your own miseries.
WaterfordCT
I guess you can’t read what I wrote, Kiwi. But you’re probably like one of those transvestite hookers on trial for murdering a mutilating a client and just think it’s all about you.
Hyhybt
“The comments on the linked article are horrible.”
I know it’s bad form to quote yourself, but looking again, the ones here aren’t much better!
WaterfordCT
@Little Kiwi: My father ? LOL. I never even had a father. I guess you like to pretend stuff.
Little Kiwi
Waterford, you’re one more wimp who can’t put a face and name to your comments. TIRED>
you said right there “He won’t because I won’t dress in half-drag..” which inherently means you believe that dressing in “half-drag” is part of the blame.
why don’t you do what your father always wished you’d do and hang yourself. 😀
*smooch*
WaterfordCT
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/crime&id=7764737 This is Little Kiwi’s future. As he strangles the client he’ll grunt, “You…know…your..daddy…hates…you……”
Interesting
From reading the situation, it sounds like they wanted to convicted, but could not decide on the charges. So the mistrial was not for some jurors thinking him innocent. It was deciding on the proper level of punishment. Some thought 1st, some 2nd and some manslaughter. Given the age of the defendant, this is not surprising.
Little Kiwi
oh waterford, you’re lucky you didn’t have one. you’d have been a crushing disappointment 😀 but for real, you asswipes who get insecure about gender-nonconformists are so pathetic.
Stop Gay Bullies
Many gays oppose bullying, unless of course, it’s a gay being the harasser…like Lawrence King.
Jimmy Fury
@Interesting: Given the circumstances it should be. It was text book definitively premeditated murder. Age should only be a factor if the child is too young to comprehend death. 14 is well past that threshold.
Interesting
@Hyhybt: Well, I am not sure about CA law about this, but perhaps they weren’t sure what type of sentencing would be given if they tought him guilty, but took things like his age into consideration. That they felt he shold be jailed, but not sure how long. If he were an adult, my guess is they would have simply convicted. What complicates this is age of the defendant, which I am not convinced would have mattered regardless of the victim.
Chad
@Mr. Enemabag Jones: I agree, it’s time to riot.
WaterfordCT
@Stop Gay Bullies: I sort of disagree on that one. King was harrassing, yes, but he was a messed up kid who didn’t know any better. A totally lost kid in need of attention. The rotten bully classmates encouraged him. The teacher should have known to separate them a long time ago. Wait til more lawsuits begin.
Little Kiwi
how many of you wimps were fully Out in highschool? Yeah. didn’t think so. King wasn’t a bully, he was defying bullying by throwing it back. wise up.
Interesting
@Jimmy Fury: We know from brain chemistry research and child to adult development that what you wrote about 14 year old isn’t true. We clearly understand in other context that minors aren’t not of the same development mind as an adult. I am not sure why, other than because you want a conviction for first degree murder, that you would claim otherwise. In the face of the mob mentality, I am merely pointing out that this is a complicated situation far beyond the issue of sexual orientation. The main problem is that we don’t have easy rules for handling situations like this. Its like the guy who is a schzophrenic/psychotic who shot the U.S. Congress woman. People there are calling for death too despite teh complexity. No one is saying that either defendent should get off. The question is what is appropriate under the circumstances- including age. Many of you seem to know. If it were a gay kid, and the situation were he brought a gun to school at age 14 to shoot his bullies, I am not sure what the answer would be there either. That’s why I try to understand the complexity rather than pretend it doesn’t exist because I want a certain result.
My gut here is that they will take a plea with a certain sentence given the jury was willing to convict. The only question to me is probably what is the right sentence.
Stop Gay Bullies
” King wasn’t a bully, he was defying bullying by throwing it back. wise up.”
Was Brandon one of King’s tormenters? If so, you have a point. If not, then King’s behavior was predatory.
WaterfordCT
@Interesting: Makes me shudder to think what a trial and sentencing would have been like if the Columbine shooters had survived.
Hyhybt
@Interesting: So, then… at what age did *you* know better than to murder people? That guns were dangerous, death permanent, etc.? Because I for one knew that sort of thing every bit as well as I do now far before the age of 14, and I strongly suspect you did too.
Interesting
@WaterfordCT: It depends on if your goal is justice or mob rule. given the number of counts and victims, the outcome would have been life.
Interesting
@Hyhybt: At what age do we say boys can go to war? Is it 14? What about driving? is that also 14? If you are right, then why not just say a 10 year old can drive since age doesn’t matter.
The problem, of course, here is that my argument is not dependent on pretending I know the exact age as yours is. I don’t pretend to know. I just know this is more complicated than the mob here wants to admit.
ewe
@Tom: straight guys come on to me all the time. Everywhere almost every day they are trying to get their rocks off. So what do you mean straight men are off limits. You rhetoric is full of double standards. First off neither one of these two were men and it was Brendan McInerney that is responsible for Lawrence King never becoming one. FOOL.
Frank
So much empathy and understanding from gay people for the perpetrator of this crime and at the expense of the same for the victim. I truly believe this is why it is taking so long for gay people to progress in America. We can’t even rally around and case like this.
Interesting
@Frank: You confuse reason with emotions. Like most here, you are projecting your emotions onto what others are saying. The truth is I don’t have much empathy for this kid. He’s a killer. But I do understand that society must have rules that make sense of complicated issues like culpability. If everything was a simple as you and other said, there would be no need for different levels of crime. Once again, there’s a reason why we don’t let 14 year olds drive. Its because we assume they don’t have the mindset to drive cars yet. That’s less of an issue that criminal acts, which underscores the point of how limited we think children cognitive abilities are compared to adults. I don’t think this kid should get off. I think however that sentencing should reflect his age. My guess is, not knowing CA Law, the jury wasn’t sure what kind of sentence he would receive because they all did convict him.
Jimmy Fury
@Interesting: Sorry but you’re going to need to cite your sources for that one because i’m calling bullshit. I want to see these studies you’re claiming exist.
And I mean proper sources. Academically acceptable sources. I want to see peer reviewed journals because I find it borderline absurd to suggest teenagers can’t comprehend death. I’m not talking about general development or social maturity. I said the ability to comprehend death and until I see actual doctors saying differently; no amount of deflecting is going to convince me teenagers, who are expected to comprehend algebra, can’t comprehend death.
No
Sorry.
Just saying “you’re wrong” is not going to cut it with me.
WaterfordCT
@Frank: I have a lot of empathy for King. But, let’s face it, if a straight boy had continued that type of behavior on a daily basis (even though classmates encouraged it, so I’m not blaming King) directed at a gay boy, and the gay boy came to school and shot him, many gay men would be calling for total acquittal. We have to be fair. If gay men want equality they have to prove themselves worthy of it (just like anybody else). McInerney was not the bully all that time. Not the pursuer. King’s audience were the bullies.
Little Kiwi
Waterford, you ignorant fool, you’re forgetting that Gay and Straight are nowhere near equals in society.
your bullshit hypothetical “What If?” scenario is more than 5 decades away from ever being a sociological reality.
you’re showing how unintelligent you are. for your nonsense to make sense, we’d be living in a world where GAY rules and STRAIGHT is the persecuted minority.
that’s not gonna happen. so thanks for failing. again.
Tom
You fags need to get over yourself and I say that as a fellow (although begrudgingly) gay. Lawrence King was a bully and made sexual advances to someone who didnt like him, it was obvious that something bad was going to happen. Don’t blame Brandon, blame the school
Frank
I also believe this is also why a lot of people in the civil rights movement get mad at gay people co-opting the movement. I mean in the 60’s people mobilized and marched. They faced attack dogs, fire hoses, and police brutality. The took freedom rides into dangerous territory and risked their lives to face down blatant bigotry for the greater good of minorities as a whole. Several people even gave their lives in the pursuit of equal rights. What does the average gay person do to advance gay rights in this country other than argue back and forth on gay internet news sites? The fact of the matter is the average gay person doesn’t want to get their hands dirty, and when a story like this comes along that should be a rallying cry, we end complacent playing devils advocate with the jury instead of trying to work to change people’s minds so that they finally realize in this country that our lives have as much value as a straight person no matter what outlandish justification a defense attorney may use to nullify a jury. This case should make people mad, but just don’t see enough of that here.
Interesting
@Jimmy Fury: take a basic course in child psychology. YOu can’t be fucking serious.
David Ehrenstein
@Queer Supremacist: Sounds like a plan!
Frank
Oh and those of you talking about age. Google these two cases. Greg Harris age 13 at the time, described as a good kid with no priors, convicted of murder and sentences to the max for a crime of passion at a little league game. Lionel Tate age 12 at the time, sentenced to life in prison for killing a neighbor by trying to emulate wrestling moves he saw on t.v. Why were these two children judged so harshly and this guy gets special consideration?
adam
They shouldn’t have charged him as an adult. He’s not an adult. He’s a boy with a boy’s mind. The jury are going to have a harder time coming to a decision when they know he’s being tried as something he isn’t, especially when they’ve heard about all the fucked up and abusive influences in his broken home where dad beat him up and that the family allegedly decided to leave him with untreated trauma from sexual molestation.
vixlad
@Queer Supremacist: I’m really shocked that U would say such a horribe thing! Preaching hatred toward another human life. Two wrongs do not make a right. Think about.
Jimmy Fury
@Interesting: If it’s that simple you should have no trouble showing your sources.
You show me sources that say 14 year olds, in general, can’t comprehend death. That high school freshmen who are mentally developed enough to begin studying Shakespeare, Algebra, Biology, and the systems of the American Government can’t comprehend the very basic notion of death.
Or you can continue to imply I’m stupid.
WaterfordCT
@Little Kiwi: You’re the type of psychotic transvestite who would have called for John Wayne Gacy’s acquittal since he was gay and his victims were straight. I’m sending your blog to evey police department in your state and saying “Watch this one. Also has a strange preoccupation with other guys’ fathers.”
Interesting
@Jimmy Fury: the reason why I am not is because it is that simple and you posting absurd questeions make you beneath my effort . people like you are dime a crazy dozen online.
evanb
In crazy-making cases like this, it’s important to remember that it’s not necessarily the jury’s fault; the American judicial system sets up a little “convince-me” contest between attorneys for the prosecution and the defense, and sometimes lawyers are not effective in making their cases convincingly. Unless you attended the trial from start to finish, it’s likely none of us has any idea whether the attorneys were effective or not. We shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that this non-decision is the result of homophobia or jury stupidity; it very likely is a case of a less-than-convincing case being made.
B
No. 10 · Mike wrote, “A kid brings a gun to school and shoots another kid in the head and there’s a mistrial?”
The question of whether it is 1st degree murder, 2nd degree murder, or manslaughter depends on whether the kid brought the gun to school with the intent to kill someone, as opposed to getting angry, pulling out a gun, and shooting. Regardless, it is a crime, and colloquially it would be called murder, but different members of the jury seemed to have disagreed on things like intent, so they couldn’t decide on the precise charge for the conviction. I presume some jurors held out for 1st degree murder and weren’t willing to let the defendant get a reduced charge, which would prevent a retrial for 1st degree murder.
Something slightly similar happened when Gwen Araujo’s murderers were tried (Gwen was murdered for being transsexual) – there was a hung jury in the first trial because of the rules: everyone on the jury thought some of the defendants deserved to be convicted of 1st degree murder and others of a lesser charge. The problem was that they couldn’t agree on which defendant deserved which – the accounts of who did what were possibly inconsistent so it boiled down to which witness to believe. In addition, the judge told the jury that they had to convict or acquit each defendant of 1st degree murder before they could convict any of 2nd degree murder.
Possibly in this case, the judge gave similar instructions, in which case some jurors may have been worried that, if they acquitted the defendant of 1st degree murder, another juror might refuse to convict the defendant of a lesser charge. If that happened, rules against double jeopardy would prevent the defendant from being tried for 1st degree murder in a retrial.
adam
@Jimmy Fury: The brain of a kid that age functions differently than an adult brain.
Here’s an article outlining what experts in the field have found through research and had to say: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=3943187&page=1
Jimmy Fury
@adam: I clearly said “I’m not talking about general development or social maturity. I said the ability to comprehend death.” As that was Intersting’s claim. That article in no way suggests adolescents are incapable of comprehending death.
I’m well aware of the developmental differences between adolescents and adults. (contrary to interestings accusations I have indeed taken psychology courses. Several of them.) But there is a big goddamn difference between suggesting a teenager is more emotionally volatile than an adult and saying a teenager is completely incapable of comprehending death. Big biiiiig difference.
DavyJones
Just to point out, since there seems to be some confusion: A mistrial from a hung-jury does not mean the defendant ‘gets off’, it is not the same thing as an acquittal. The prosecution can (and in this case, almost certainly will) retry the case with a new jury.
erasure25
@Tom: WTF? He’s a good looking kid? WTF does that have to do with anything? He KILLED another child because a guy flirted with him. Should girls go out and shoot every guy that makes unwanted sexual comments at them? The kid said he was going to go and get a gun, bring it to school, and shoot him. He planned it out. That’s first degree murder. This is yet another example of how gays are second class citizens.
erasure25
@WaterfordCT: Prove ourselves worthy of equality? Why. Straights assume they get equality without proving anything. I’m not interested in asking for permission. I’m demanding equality under the Constitution. Constitutional rights are defined as those rights not given by man. They are rights inherent to us as people. They cannot be taken away by any person or government. I have no interest in proving myself “worthy” of rights that I inherently possess.
Secondly, it would seem that boys bully girls around all the time. How often to hetero boys make unwanted sexual advances towards girls. What would your reaction be if a girl committed premeditated murder against a boy who was making unwanted flirtations against her and made plans to bring a gun to school to shoot the boy in the head at point blank range… twice?
gaygreece
Only in a country like the U.S. would a minor have access to a firearm and be able to bring it to school. Only in a country like the U.S. would a 14-year-old be tried for a crime as an adult. In fact the U.S. in the ONLY country in the world that regularly tries children as adults. Something which is a clear violation of international child protection law.
Clear up your mess first and then be outraged about the actions of a 14-year-old.
WaterfordCT
@erasure25: My reaction to the girl in that case would be the same, if she came from a screwed up family with a screwed up life, hated the boy going after her day after day to classmates’ laughing encouragement, and I’d still say the school screwed up for not stopping the bullying. And yes, gays have to prove themselves worthy of equality. Calling for all heterosexuals to be murdered, or that any legal case involving a gay makes the gay automatically right, does not make you worthy of equality in any civilized country. Would you have freed John Wayne Gacy?
WaterfordCT
@gaygreece: Trying children as adults never makes sense. I agree with you there. It IS the subject of enormous debate here.
Mk_Ultra_Again
He’s just an innocent baby, really. I mean with a few years of rehabilitation ( only the most delicate slap on the wrist for this fragile flower) he can be back on the streets and move on to something less violent than blowing someone’s head off with a shotgun. Maybe he’ll graduate to curb checking the face? I hear that’s the new way to teach “those predatory gays” a lesson and obviously many on here agree.
WaterfordCT
@Mk_Ultra_Again: Two different cases. Grow up.
gaygreece
@ waterford CT
Unfortunately the problem with “debates” over there is how uncivil, polarising, divorced from logic and outright hysterical they become, as evidenced by this thread.
Much easier to howl for the lynching of an underage killer, blame another kid for allegedly “provoking” the murderer and/or abusing fellow commenters than fixing the problems of homophobia, bullying, gun control and the justice system.
Chico
@Tom: GOOD LOOKING? Fool! He murdered in cold blood? How does that translate into his ‘good looks’? It doesn’t! He made a mistake!? well whoop-d-effin’-do! Most mistakes are something you can learn from. What will he learn from this… next time I’ll just shoot a fag in the face? Seriously! Get over that “looks” thing. It is ridiculously misleading.
delurker
Tom is a paedophile who faps it to 13 years old boys. Gross.
Mike in Asheville
@Stop Gay Bullies: fucking troll — crawl back home sewer rat!
Interesting
Re Juvenile Criminal Sentences
TO be clear, and I am not sure if this is true of CA, but juvenile court cases involving murder can have sentences that last 10 and 20 and more years of incarceration. SOme of it is dependent on circumstances, etc. I am not sure about CA whether that’s the law, but I have found that it is in other liberal states.
part of the issue with this case as I understand is is that the prosecution refused to let it stand in juvenile court where he had the best chance of winning the best result. Instead, it played politics with the case to seem tough on crime which is playing on American ignorance of what that means.
In other words, trying a 14 year as an adult likely made it harder to convicted and assign correct punishment rather than better.
On the other hand, you have a defense team that put out an absurd and likely illegal defense.
Thus, how you get into this mess.
Interesting
@adam: As you can see from Jimmy’s response, that’s why I did no waste my time. One of the lessons I have learned in online chatting is that if someone is asking or arguing absurd things online where they can easily find information simply by Googling it that clearly indicates they are wrong, yet they not only make the argument but then claim one must prove to them that they are wrong- well I know that’s always going to end as Jimmy is starting to do here in this thread.
One of the reasons I don’t respond to people like Jimmy online anymore is that they aren’t good faith in their postings. WHatever you say,t hey will ask you to prove, and then spin that to claim that you aren’t answering their question or statement or whatever or claim that they nevertheless are right by simply denying what was written. In other words, you can’t win with someone like Jimmy by presenting facts because Jimmy has agenda.
Unfortunately, online promotes anti-reason rather than critical thinking. Jimmy is right because he can be a sophist. Jimmy is right because he can unilaterally decide that anything said on the subject doesn’t prove Jimmy wrong. Thus, why I didn’t bother.
In short thank you for posting, but its a waste of time.
aki
@WaterfordCT:
Thank you for this . I feel the sort of the same way but are usually afraid to say it because you get called a victim blamer .It was an unfortunate situation with a lot of people just standing around waiting for something to happen .
Ronbo
@Tom: Tom, you are sick. Go back under your rock.
Adrian Acosta
sounds like the jury couldn’t handle having Brandon’s life in their hands…just like Brandon held Lawrence’s life in his.
round one down.
lets see what round two brings.
at least, according to reports, Brandon will stay in jail for the time being.
Interesting
@Adrian Acosta: That’s why this is hyperbole. The truth is that the case was in the wrong court so it was never a matter of punishment. The jury thought he should be punished. It was a question of appropriate punish given the age of the defendant.
Little Kiwi
Appropriate punishment? Do juries in America decide the punishment? I thought the jury was the group that decides what CRIME was committed, not what PUNISHMENT one receives.
am i wrong?
talked about killing his classmate. went home. retrieved gun. loaded gun. snuck gun into school. unloaded gun into the black of classmates head.
how is that not premeditated murder?
Sed
@Little Kiwi: Little Kiwi. You are my hero.
Interesting
@Little Kiwi: So, when a jury convicts a 14 year old of first degree murder they are suppose to be too stupid to realize that means potentially life inprisonment?
SOMe of you are quite pathetic at this point. You aren’te ven trying to pretend this is anyting other than retard mob revenge.
ewe
@Tom: you are rediculous. I and society generally tend to blame the murderer for murdering. And you aint no fucking fellow gay to me.