Diva
04-12-02, 08:00PM
BLUFFTON (http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/1282386p-1316457c.html) -- Two H.E. McCracken Middle School students have been charged with second-degree lynching in a March 28 incident at the school that sent Francisco Belman to a Charleston hospital.
Assistant Solicitor Duffie Stone said Wednesday that after two weeks of investigation he had determined that a charge of second-degree lynching could be brought against the two juveniles, whose names were withheld. Stone defined second-degree lynching as "any act of violence inflicted by a mob upon the body of another person."
"Did I consider other charges? Yes," Stone said. "(But) with the information I had available I believe this is the most appropriate charge."
The Solicitor's Office will prosecute the case in Family Court. A hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. today to determine whether the boys, ages 13 and 14, will be held in custody while they await trial on the charges.
Law enforcement officials say Francisco, a 14-year-old eighth-grader at H.E. McCracken Middle School, collapsed in cardiac arrest in a school bathroom after being punched several times in the chest as part of an initiation rite. His family issued a statement Tuesday saying Francisco remained in critical condition at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
Under South Carolina law, a mob is defined as two or more people getting together "for the premeditated purpose and with the premeditated intent of committing an act of violence upon the person of another."
Stone said first-degree lynching is charged only when a victim dies.
The judge at today's detention hearing has several options, Stone said, including ordering the boys held at the juvenile detention center in Columbia, placing them under house arrest or releasing them to their parents. He stressed the boys are presumed innocent until a judge determines they are delinquents after a Family Court trial.
Detective Pat Blankenship of the Bluffton Police Department said the boys turned themselves in to law enforcement officials at the state Department of Juvenile Justice in Beaufort after police talked with the boys' attorneys. The boys were taken to the state juvenile detention facility in Columbia.
Stone said there was no one thing that prompted the filing of charges Wednesday, but Francisco Belman's condition played a role.
"There has not been very much change (in his condition) over the past week, so we decided to go forward with the charges," he said. "We were waiting to find out about the health of the child. That was my primary reason for delay."
Blankenship said investigators had been waiting for Francisco's condition to improve so they could interview him. But, he said, "his condition is unchanged and you can only wait so long for a person's condition to change."
"Very seldom do lawyers get involved in (school district) hearings," he said. "But given the magnitude of this case, a continuance would probably be accepted. What happens (this) morning will determine what happens (this) afternoon."
Do you agree with the charges? Or, do you think there is another charge that should be placed? What is your first reaction after 'skimming' this article? ;)
Here's the victim:
http://www.nochicktrix.com/fun/xnews/francisco-belman-mug.jpg
Assistant Solicitor Duffie Stone said Wednesday that after two weeks of investigation he had determined that a charge of second-degree lynching could be brought against the two juveniles, whose names were withheld. Stone defined second-degree lynching as "any act of violence inflicted by a mob upon the body of another person."
"Did I consider other charges? Yes," Stone said. "(But) with the information I had available I believe this is the most appropriate charge."
The Solicitor's Office will prosecute the case in Family Court. A hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. today to determine whether the boys, ages 13 and 14, will be held in custody while they await trial on the charges.
Law enforcement officials say Francisco, a 14-year-old eighth-grader at H.E. McCracken Middle School, collapsed in cardiac arrest in a school bathroom after being punched several times in the chest as part of an initiation rite. His family issued a statement Tuesday saying Francisco remained in critical condition at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
Under South Carolina law, a mob is defined as two or more people getting together "for the premeditated purpose and with the premeditated intent of committing an act of violence upon the person of another."
Stone said first-degree lynching is charged only when a victim dies.
The judge at today's detention hearing has several options, Stone said, including ordering the boys held at the juvenile detention center in Columbia, placing them under house arrest or releasing them to their parents. He stressed the boys are presumed innocent until a judge determines they are delinquents after a Family Court trial.
Detective Pat Blankenship of the Bluffton Police Department said the boys turned themselves in to law enforcement officials at the state Department of Juvenile Justice in Beaufort after police talked with the boys' attorneys. The boys were taken to the state juvenile detention facility in Columbia.
Stone said there was no one thing that prompted the filing of charges Wednesday, but Francisco Belman's condition played a role.
"There has not been very much change (in his condition) over the past week, so we decided to go forward with the charges," he said. "We were waiting to find out about the health of the child. That was my primary reason for delay."
Blankenship said investigators had been waiting for Francisco's condition to improve so they could interview him. But, he said, "his condition is unchanged and you can only wait so long for a person's condition to change."
"Very seldom do lawyers get involved in (school district) hearings," he said. "But given the magnitude of this case, a continuance would probably be accepted. What happens (this) morning will determine what happens (this) afternoon."
Do you agree with the charges? Or, do you think there is another charge that should be placed? What is your first reaction after 'skimming' this article? ;)
Here's the victim:
http://www.nochicktrix.com/fun/xnews/francisco-belman-mug.jpg