Mychal Bell Bailed Out By A Stranger

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — 17-year-old Mychal Bell, the center of a civil rights controversy in a small Louisiana town left jail, he had a stranger to thank.

Dr. Stephen Ayers, who lives about 135 miles away, said he felt compelled to help the family of Mychal Bell by posting the teen's bond and allowing him to go home for the first time in 10 months.

Bell is one of six black teenagers accused of beating a white classmate in the central Louisiana town of Jena, where more than 20,000 demonstrators gathered last week to protest what they perceive as differences in how black and white suspects are treated.

Ayers, 42, of Lake Charles in southwestern Louisiana, said Friday that he isn't politically active and isn't usually one to "get into things like this." But then a patient whose feet hurt after the march gave him a report on the event, in which Ayers did not participate.

"I was concerned about what was going on up there and thought the district attorney was a bit harsh in his treatment of Mr. Bell," said Ayers, who is black but added that his race was not his motivation. "I really thought it was overkill."

Bell was released from custody Thursday on $45,000 bail after District Attorney Reed Walters announced that he would abandon adult charges against him. Ayers posted $5,400, the required 12 percent bond set by a judge Thursday.

Attorney Reed Walters said he considered when deciding not to appeal said he decidied not to appeal

JENA -- The best interests of Justin Barker, the victim in the highly publicized "Jena Six" case, were what LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters said he considered when deciding not to appeal the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal's decision to overturn Mychal Bell's adult conviction, sending it back to juvenile court.

"This decision comes after thoroughly reviewing the facts and researching the law in this area, as well as consulting with some of the best legal minds that I know of in this state," Walters said. "While I believe that a review would have merit in a very unsettled area of the law, I also believe it is in the best interest of the victim and his family not to delay this matter further and to move it toward a conclusion."

More Charges Coming For Michael Vick Lets Not Let Jena 6 Take Away Our Love For Mike

RICHMOND, Va. -- The prosecutor for the county where Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has admitted to bankrolling a dogfighting operation plans to present "a host of bills of indictment" regarding the case to a grand jury on Tuesday.

"Yes, I'm presenting matters to the grand jury that involve dogfighting at 1915 Moonlight Road," Surry County Commonwealth's Attorney Gerald G.

Moonlight Road is the address of the two story home on 15 acres that has been host to the operation known as "Bad Newz Kennels" since 2001, and where dogs have been trained, executed and fought.

"Most of the matters that I'm presenting have already been admitted in sworn statements authored by the defendants in the federal proceedings," Poindexter said.

He couldn't detail the exact indictments he will pursue, but said the local investigation and the federal investigation largely focused on different crimes.

"The killing of dogs is one of those statutory prohibitions. Dogfighting is a crime, the mistreatment of animals is a crime, so you could take your pick, or take them all," Poindexter said before cutting the conversation short. "I don't have anything else to say about it. I'm through with it. Hopefully it's coming to an end."

Vick, his co-defendants and lawyers will not attend the closed proceeding.

Efforts to reach Vick's lawyers were not immediately successful Monday night.

Vick and three co-defendants have already pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in the case, and all are awaiting sentencing in federal court before the end of the year.

Vick, who faces up to five years in prison, also has been indefinitely suspended without pay by the NFL and been dropped by all his major sponsors, including Nike.

The local charges, and a conviction, could spell an end to any hope he has of resuming his NFL career after serving a likely federal prison term. An animal cruelty charge in Virginia is punishable by up to five years in prison, and he admitted in his written plea to helping kill six to eight pit bulls days before the first raid.

That alone could expose him to as many as 40 years in prison.

Vick, in his written plea, also admitted supplying money for gambling on the fights. He said he did not personally place any bets or share in any winnings, but gave his three co-defendants all those proceeds.

The co-defendants, all of whom pleaded guilty before Vick and detailed what they said was his involvement, agreed to testify against him had the case gone to trial.

Poindexter, who had been widely criticized for the pace of the investigation, reacted angrily when the feds moved in, suggesting that Vick's celebrity was a draw, or that their pursuit of the case could have racial overtones. He later eased off those comments, saying that the sides would simply be pursuing parallel investigations. Jena six is not the only thing we should focus on. Mike needs some love too.