Louisiana Court To Hear Arguments on Recusing Jena 6 Judge Mauffrey

I told you about the motion to have Judge Mauffrey removed in my last post on May 8th. It Appears arguments will finally be heard on this on May 30th.


Lawyers accuse judge in ‘Jena 6′ trial of racial bias

(CNN) — A Louisiana appeals court has agreed to a request by attorneys for four of the “Jena Six” defendants to hear arguments that the trial judge in the case should be recused because of alleged racial prejudice.

District Judge Thomas Yeager will hear arguments next Friday for the recusal of Judge J.P. Mauffrey Jr., according to court documents released this week.

One of the attorneys, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the case in the small town of Jena, Louisiana, said the lawyers must prove “substantial bias” in their effort to have Mauffrey removed.

May Jena Six Update

This Jena 6 update for May is brought to you by the folks at TownTalk.com:

Motions delayed for 3 'Jena Six' defendants
By Abbey Brown

JENA ­-- On May 2, 2007, close to 20 people gathered in front of the LaSalle Parish Courthouse shouting, "Free the Jena Six!" for the first time.

The crowd, mostly family and friends of the six teens charged in a December 2006 incident at Jena High School, vowed to continue protesting until the students saw justice.

But more than a year later, only one of those six has faced a jury. And Tuesday brought another delay when scheduled motions for three defendants were continued pending an appeal from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal filed by their attorneys.

Those representing Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis and Theo Shaw said that 28th Judicial District Court Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. had previously denied motions before him to recuse himself as the trial judge in their cases without a hearing. The attorneys feel Mauffray has an unfair bias in the case, according to motions filed.

His denial to their recusal request has been appealed to the 3rd Circuit, so Mauffray said he won't hear other motions until that appeal is decided.

Some of the motions scheduled by the attorneys and LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters included change of venue, permission to conduct a poll for change of venue and intent to use Purvis' Texas assault charge in his trial for the Dec. 4, 2006, assault on Justin Barker.

The attorneys said they hoped Jones, Purvis and Shaw's cases could be consolidated with the only pending juvenile case -- Jesse Ray Beard -- since all have the same recusal of Mauffray appeal pending. No trial date has been set for Robert Bailey Jr.'s case either...

Tina Jones, Purvis' mother, said her son is doing well and will graduate from his Dallas-area high school on June 8. Just last week, he went to his first prom, she said. Purvis has been looking at colleges, and the University of Kansas is currently his first choice, Tina Jones said.

Jena 6 Defendant Jesse Ray Beard Motions To Have Judge and DA Removed

Jesse Ray is the defendent who was 14 at the time and was always being handle as a juvenile while D.A. Reed Walters attempted to try the others as adults.

I try to follow up with my contact at Town Talk about the on going status of this motion in the next week.

Motion to remove judge, DA in 'Jena Six' case filed
Town Talk staff

Attorneys for Jesse Ray Beard, the youngest of the six Jena High students who have become known as the "Jena Six," filed motions Tuesday to recuse 28th Judicial District Court Judge J.P. Mauffray and LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters.

The motion to recuse Walters said the prosecutor "has shown on numerous occasions that he is so prejudiced and harbors such personal bias against Jesse Ray (Beard) and the other five African-American youths now known as the Jena 6, that he is incapable of fairly and impartially performing his duties as the district attorney."

The motion to recuse Mauffray said he "has made numerous statements, on numerous occasions, in different procedural postures, to numerous individuals, which make clear he has pre-judged not only Jesse Ray (Beard's) guilt, but the disposition for Jesse Ray (Beard) as well."

In juvenile proceedings, as Beard's case will be handled, there isn't a jury, just the juvenile judge. In LaSalle Parish that person is Mauffray.
"Millions of people turned their attention to the Jena Six last year, but at the end of the day the system itself has to go on trial," James Rucker said in a press release.

Rucker is the executive director of ColorOfChange.org, the 400,000-member group that advocated on behalf of the Jena Six. "Reed Walters and Judge Mauffray have behaved outrageously at every turn and violated the most basic principles of justice. There can be no justice in Jena with these men as its agents."

Beard faces juvenile charges of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit the same in connection with the Dec. 4, 2006, attack on Justin Barker at Jena High that left Barker unconscious.