Posted on 01/21/2007 8:19:32 AM PST by SmithL
The parents of the 10 black youths on trial for allegedly battering three white women on Halloween spoke out for the first time at a community forum and said prosecutors had failed to prove their case.
About 100 people gathered Saturday at the California Recreation Community Center in Long Beach, just days before the defense was to finish its closing arguments.
Some of the parents said their children were good students or athletes with promising futures and had no criminal records. They assailed what they called a rush to judgment.
"They've been presumed guilty," said Allene Seymore, the mother of a 16-year-old female defendant. "This just made me realize how so very, very far we are from fulfilling Dr. Martin Luther King's dream" of equality for all, she said.
The defendants ranged in age from 12 to 17 at the time of the Oct. 31 attack in the posh Bixby Knolls neighborhood. All have pleaded not guilty.
"My kids are innocent," said Cherralle Hargison, the mother of four of the youths on trial. "They're devastated. They can't even go to school, because they're in court every day."
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Fact1: All criminals once had no criminal record.
Fact2: Having no criminal record does not grant one a pass.
The children are going through the normal legal process. Plus, I don't hear anyone crying out, "They're black, so they're guilty!" like the folks in the Duke lacrosse players crying out, "They're white, so they should pay anyways!"
EXACTLY!!!! Your kids beat her up because of the color of her skin...not because of the content of her character.
Go suck an egg, lady.
I doubt the parents know what their kids are doing. I'm sure all of them were at home at the time doing their homework which they are all straight A students./sarc
HHHHHHMMMM too bad, looks like people want to forget this story, wonder why???
Now there is something you don't hear in court too very often.
(Of course they aren't lady, and we'll have all those witnesses up on charges just as soon as we finish negotiations with the ACLU)
(sarc)
Too bad they weren't white Lacrosse players. Then they would never be 'presumed guilty'.
In all seriousness, though, I don't know the facts or evidence in this case, so I can't say if these parents have a valid argument or not.
I think being human trumps being a particular race of human.
You go for the maximum criminal penalty and stop with this politicization of a violent criminal act.
Fact Three: even the biggest scumbag has a mother willing to proclaim his ignorance.
Parents of criminal children say they are good kids unfairly accused. This is news?
I'm frequently amazed at how some people interpret MLK's speeches & writings to assume that crime won't be punished.
Kind of like the ZEBRA killings.....
Agree--King would be more angry than we are over the twisting of his words.
Thanks for the link. With evidence that strong against their kids, no wonder the parents are playing the race card. It's all they have.
Yeah, and whose fault is THAT???
"The defendants ranged in age from 12 to 17 at the time of the Oct. 31 attack in the posh Bixby Knolls neighborhood. All have pleaded not guilty. "?i>
Yeah, nobody did nuttin'! Those girls just had bruises and broken bones just appear. Geeeeesh! Enough already!
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