Defense in Lawrence King Case Looking for Speedy Trial

Two new developments in the Lawrence King case.

First, the prosecution of Brandon McInerney, the 14-year-old accused of gunning down gay classmate Lawrence King. Now that a Ventura County turned down his request for a juvenile trial, the defense attorney wants his client to get a speedy jury trial. The Los Angeles Times:

[Deputy public defender Willie Quest] said the public defender's office may appeal [the] decision but would probably wait until after his client has been tried. It can take months, or even years, to get an appellate court ruling, he said.

By then, McInerney may no longer be a fresh-faced adolescent, Quest said.

"If people get to know Brandon and see Brandon as who he really is, I think they will be very unlikely to want him to die in prison," Quest said.

A second item that caught our eye his morning is an editorial in Thursday's Ventura County Star applauds the Oxnard school district for approving a pilot anti-bullying program for sixth-graders. The program includes videos and classroom discussion, smaller discussion groups and parent participation. Money quote: "There is little solid evidence that such an approach will succeed in stopping sixth-graders from teasing or bullying. But, teaching them to be kind to each other and to be more accepting of those different from them is worth the extra effort."

This sounds like a great idea. If successful, the interaction program could spread to other schools. Possibly save a life or two.

Lawyer for Oxnard Youth Accused of Killing Gay Classmate Wants Trial to Begin Soon [LAT]
Heading Off A Future Tragedy [VCS]

Some Background ...
King's Alleged Killer Will Be Tried As An Adult [R20]
Will Lawrence King's Killer Be Tried As An Adult? [R20]
Mixed Messages [Advocate.com]
Newsweek's Disturbing Feature on Lawrence King [R20]
WaPo Profiles 15-Year-Old Openly Gay Teen [R20]
News: Noah's Arc, Lawrence King, Black Gay Youth [R20]
News: Pope, Lawrence King, Simmie Williams [R20]
News: Obama, Clinton, Pharrell, Lawrence King [R20]

Comments

[NN]

The 14 year old shooter should get a speedy trial. Then, they should lock him up and keep him behind bars for the next 40 or 50 years.

[Walter]

I'm not demanding leniency for a homophobic murder but clearly 40 years without parole is a bit much. Perhaps if he were charged with second degree McInerey may have some chance at rehabilitation.

[Miss Jackson If You're Nasty]

There are no good answers in he prosecution of little Larry King's killer. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. And that anti-bullying and harassment program sounds wonderful. It's a start.

[D Tanner]

Miss Jackson, you are too right. Damned if you do damned if you don't. This is such a sad story. California is in a budget crunch at a time when more social services are needed in the schools.

Anti-bullying is needed, but this case also points out that counseling is needed.

[Mark]

According to Freud among others, most "heterosexuals" are confronted with confusing feelings about their sexual orientation when they hit puberty (i.e. they occasionally notice their own forbidden and secret desires for the same sex). Meanwhile, they are busy trying to construct a solidly heterosexual identity. That is why it is really important to have counseling and sex education at this age, especially now that a homosexual identity is an officially if not socially accepted option. (That was not the case, for example, when a 40 year old like myself was in junior high and high school, when there was a ballot initiative in California to prevent gays from being teachers.)

The teenagers have to be reassured that homosexual feelings are normal, and what's more, they do not make you "gay." What makes you gay is if, once you have grown up, you eventually find you have not developed sexual feelings for the opposite sex. In this new day in which homosexuality is no longer automatically and universally denounced, straight kids need reassurance about how to know they are straight. And it is not helpful if society equates having same-sex desires with being a sexual minority. It has to be the absence of opposite-sex desires that puts you in the minority.

[Yah]

Mark, I hope one day you read your comment over again so you can realize how dumb it sounds.