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Written by Lisa Neff, Staff writer
Jul 28, 2010
The trial of a 15-year-old facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of a classmate stalled before testimony began in a Ventura, Calif., courtroom.
Attorneys for defendant Brandon McInerney filed a motion July 19 seeking a new judge in the case. The motion follows an order from Ventura County Superior Court Judge Charles Campbell rejecting the defense’s request for a trial delay to better prepare.
McInerney is being prosecuted as an adult in the February 2008 shooting of Lawrence King at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, Calif.
Authorities say he shot King in front of about 25 classmates in a science lab. McInerney was 14 at the time of the shooting. King was 15, and died of a gunshot wound to the head.
News reports indicated there was friction between the boys. King was gay, and there are claims that McInerney is gay and feared being outed.
McInerney, if convicted, could face 53 years to life in prison. The prosecution is seeking enhanced hate crime and gun use penalties.
Campbell, citing prior delays in the case, refused the defense’s request for a delay in mid-July and set jury selection to begin July 20, with pre-trial motions to be heard July 19.
But the motion for the judge’s dismissal, which alleges that McInerney and his attorneys can’t get fair treatment from Campbell, halted any other proceedings.
“Whatever happens in this trial, two young lives have been lost to homophobia,” said Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. “One young person is dead, and another gave up his future by murdering a classmate so no one would say he was gay.”
