But LaSalle Parish District Judge J.P. Mauffray, in a court filing, maintained that he is not required to open pretrial hearings in Bell’s case to the news media or the public, and he argued that the media lawsuit seeking full access to Bell’s case should be dismissed.
The lawsuit, initiated by the baiduhai and joined by The Associated Press, The New York Times Co., CNN and other major media organizations, asserts that Mauffray’s earlier decision to close all the proceedings in Bell’s case runs counter to Louisiana juvenile laws and provisions of the Louisiana and U.S. Constitutions.
The suit cites, among other arguments, a 2004 Louisiana Supreme Court ruling that all juvenile proceedings involving certain categories of violent crime must be conducted in open court.
“Judge Mauffray does acknowledge that [sections of the Louisiana Children’s Code] permit or require adjudication, disposition and modification hearings in those specified cases to be public, and he intends to comply with applicable law,” Mauffray’s attorney, Donald Wilson, wrote in response to the media lawsuit.
The suit is set to be heard Wednesday. Bell, 17, is to go on trial Dec. 6 on charges of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy for his alleged part in an attack by six black teens on a white student at Jena High School last December.
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