Mistrial declared in McInerney case

[LSN80]

Los Angeles (CNN) -- A judge declared a mistrial Thursday after jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked in the murder trial of a teenager accused of gunning down a gay classmate in their Southern California classroom.

Ventura County Superior Court confirmed the ruling in the eight-week trial of Brandon McInerney, who was 14 at the time of the shooting in 2008.

The nine-woman, three-man jury panel said its last vote resulted in seven in favor of finding the defendant guilty of voluntary manslaughter, CNN affiliates reported.

McInerney was tried as an adult on charges of first-degree murder, use of a handgun and a hate crime.

McInerney, now 17, allegedly shot 15-year-old Lawrence King, an eighth grader at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, twice while both were typing papers in a computer lab for their English class, authorities said.

King, an openly gay teenager, was seated in the middle of the classroom with two dozen students and their teacher when McInerney allegedly shot him in the back of the head, authorities said.

Friends said King was proud of being openly gay. He liked wearing jewelry and makeup to school, and he often wore high-heeled boots with the school uniform. He asked his teachers to call him Leticia instead of Larry. Some students bullied him, pupils said.

The prosecution alleged McInerney had planned to shoot King over unwanted sexual advances, and said that McInerney had white-supremacist leanings, according to affiliate KABC.

The defense contended McInerney had a violent upbringing. It also argued that King taunted and flirted with McInerney, ultimately sparking the fatal confrontation, KTLA reported.

The trial was held in Chatsworth, in neighboring Los Angeles County, because the defendant successfully sought a change of venue in the high-profile case, said Ventura County Chief Deputy District Attorney Mike Frawley

.

The high profile trial of the slaying of a homosexual man has hit a speed bump after 8 weeks when the jury declared that they were "hopelessly deadlocked" in determining the fate of now 17 year old Brandon McInerery, and declared a mistrial. McInerery was 14 at the time when he alledgedly shot 15 year old classmaate Lawrence King in the back of the head.

McInererey had alledgedly been sexually harrassed by King for some time. King, a noted homosexual, alledgedly taunted McInererey and flirting with him. King was known for his flamboyant lifestyle, including wearing makeup, earrings, and high-heels to school, as well as insisting his teachers call him "Leticia".

McInererey alledgedly shot King in the back of the head in front of 24 classmates and a teacher. Testimony showed that McInererey had been planning to shoot King for some time because King had made unwanted sexual advances towards him. The defense in the case argued the following, in synopsis:

"King taunted and flirted with McInerney, ultimately sparking the fatal confrontation.McInerney was a troubled boy from a violent home and killed King in the heat-of-the-moment."

The prosecution countered with the following:

"McInerney had threatened to shoot King, who was openly gay, the day before the incident after the two were involved in an argument in science class.No amount of revisionist history and attempts to paint Larry King as some kind of predator can ever change the fact of what occurred in this case. That is: Larry King was executed for who he was."

McInerney was being tried as an adult and faces first-degree murder charges with a hate crime enhancement. He could face up to 56 years in jail for the first-degree murder charge. As stated earlier, a mistrial has been declared in the voluntary manslaughter case.

Should McInerney have been tried as an adult, being 14 at the time?

How did the case become a mistrial when the slaying was done in front of 25 witnesses?

If someone was making constant unwanted sexual advances to you, how would you respond?

What are your thoughts on the case?

 

[Mustang Sally]

The defense contended McInerney had a violent upbringing.

Yeah, here we go with this kind of thing again. It's an offshoot of political correctness; the intimation that a child is responsible for nothing ....that if he does something wrong, it's the fault of the adults around him; he's just an innocent victim of society's ills. Ugh.

People who believe that keep forgetting that a 14-year-old "child" should be looked at a hell of a lot differently than a 4-year-old child. But often, people don't see the difference and it could explain why the jury deadlocked.

And sure, in a capital crime, if the accused is capable of willfully bringing a gun to school for the sole purpose of murdering someone, he can be tried as an adult.

As for the punishment this kid chose for the gay one, do you really think "unwanted sexual advances" justifies his putting the victim to death? Yes, King was probably an obnoxious jerk, but there were surely better alternatives for McInerney than willfully killing him.

This country may pride itself on the jury system of justice, but cases through the years show that it leaves a lot to be desired. Frankly, if I were accused of a capital crime and had the option of being tried by a judge or a jury, the only way I'd want a jury is if I were really guilty. Then, my attorney might be able to plead "the ills of society" and get me off on a plea for sympathy. Yeah, I'd still be guilty of the crime.....but I'd go free anyway because a jury "felt sorry" for me.

If I were truly innocent of the crime, I'd want to be tried by a judge, every time. I'm sure that's not a perfect method either, but at least I'm presuming a judge would try me on the facts of the case, not whom he felt sorriest for.

 

[Xemmy]

Should McInerney have been tried as an adult, being 14 at the time?
No, I don't think so. While you're old enough to make your own decisions at that age I think, in many ways you are still a child. Therapy, years on probation, and years of juvenile detention are things that should be sought, in my opinion.

How did the case become a mistrial when the slaying was done in front of 25 witnesses?
Stupidity, bias, fear for the boy's life. Things like that I imagine. If it were as simply as Guilty/Not Guilty, then he was beyond a shadow of a doubt Guilty.

If someone was making constant unwanted sexual advances to you, how would you respond? Flirt back of course. Might slap him if he went too far- like grabbing my junk. Or if I hated the asshole and he went to far I might kick his ass. But I certainly wouldn't kill him.

What are your thoughts on the case?
I think it's an unfortunate example that bigotry and hate are still alive and well. I think there was certainly something wrong with the Jury. I also think that trying a 14 year old as an adult is an example of double standards when we talk about 14 year old being killed people scream "She/He was just a child!!!!", but then we turn around and put them on trial as adults if it suits us. I certainly think this is one fucked up kid, but putting them on trial as an adult is something that just doesn't sit right with me.

 

[Dagger Dias]

McInerney being tried as an adult was the right way to go. The fact that he was only 14 does not change the fact that he killed another human being over a situation that could easily have been resolved through a mediated meeting with teachers/counselors or some other type of simple way to go about it. The fact that there is a mistrial at all is beyond me. There were 25 witnesses, did no one want to say anything? They all saw what happened. A young boy was killed over a joke being taken way too seriously. I have dealt with unwanted sexual advances from a homosexual before. All it took was calmly telling him "Sorry dude, I like girls. Please do not do that, it makes me uncomfortable". He respected that and wished me luck with the ladies. If McInerney had not let King's behavior get to him so much, and perhaps tried talking to him about it, then this could have been prevented. The past cannot be changed though. He murdered another person and there should be no mistrial because one or more of those witnesses need to be brave enough to tell what they saw, there's no way he should be allowed to get away with anything here without some sort of punishment.

 

[Smooth Sexual Chocolate]

Here we go again.....

The kid obviously should be punished and locked up, no questions asked; but what really irks me are these overzealous prosecutors going for hellfire and brimstone instead locking up a sure fucking thing.

14 - your a fucking kid. Mistake number one, trying kids as adults. I get they want to lock this fucker up and he should be; but now they're adding extra stress/emotion to the jurors, you put a bigger burden on them, you ask them to view this child present in the courtroom as an adult, when the eyes don't lie, and said "adult" obviously is a child. On top of that you want to press for a hate crime too, and I'm not saying it wasn't a hate crime; but again, getting these charges over on a 14 year old isn't a walk in the park, even if you have 25 witnesses. These clowns take a surefire conviction and get fucking nothing.

Chalk this up as another embarrassment for out legal system.

I'm not even going to get into the fucked up circumstances and other shit involving this case

 

[H33LTurn]

Come on, are you serious? Look nobody gets bullied by the gay guy who everybody makes fun of. I bet if McInerney hit on a girl and she didnt like it he wouldnt hand her a gun and say "shoot me in the back of the head". If someone hit on me and I didnt like it I would let them know then just ignore them. As far as McInerney coming from a rough background, I went to school with bloods and crips in a rough part of the city, you dont see me shooting everyone I have problems with. If he was being harassed he could've easily reported it. Dont get me wrong, that King kid was totally wrong for hitting on him and eventually got what was coming to him but who in their right mind is thinking flirting is going to lead to getting killed? As far as a mistrial, as soon as a couple of uneducated people hear "gay guy" and "harassment" they think its the gay guy's fault. Maybe if we took some time from making this country so oversexed and taught our kids that there are consequences to making such advancements towards people then we wouldnt have situations like this. Honestly I feel for both kids. It hurts to say it but you have to throw the kid in jail.