Though a jury has been presented with evidence and testimony pointing directly to one boy in the death of another, they must now deliberate as to the underlying reason for the crime, as reported by the associated press in California for Yahoo News.
The jury must decide if the murder was prompted by L.K., 15, taunting then-14 year-old B.M. with unwanted homosexual advances, or if the defendant acted in a white supremacist rage.
The trial has been eight weeks long, with almost 100 witnesses heard, legal objections and defense motions for a mistrial, before the jury began their deliberations on August 26.
In February 2008 B.M. brought a .22 caliber gun from his home to school and shot L.K. in the head in front of their classmates.
B.M.'s defense attorney, Scott Wippert, argued that his client should be convicted on voluntary manslaughter, as the defendant's responsibility should be diminished due to circumstances presented.
The prosecution is pushing for a conviction of first-degree murder, with a
hate-crime enhancement.
Wippert told jurors, "He is guilty and he should be held responsible, but he is not a murderer. He is not a white supremacist. He is a 14-year-old child who didn't know what to do and had no one to guide him."
Wippert stated that a psychologist said that his client had "dissociated" at the time of the attack.
This alleged dissociation by the defendant means that his teenaged brain didn't have the emotional capability to process the enormity of the crime.
Ventura County Deputy District Attorney Maeve Fox argued, "There is absolutely no way under any set of circumstances that the facts of this case could ever be voluntary manslaughter because no reasonable average person would ever do what the defendant did."
Fox argued that B.M. consciously chose to plan and carry out the murder of L.K. because the victim flirted with him. N.M. told a classmate of his plans, hid a gun in his backpack, went to E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, and then proceeded to kill L.K. with two shots to the back of his head.
Fox called it a "cold-blooded execution" and further argued that "this defendant is guilty of first-degree murder. He is an extremist, and he did the most extreme thing humanly possible."
Allegedly Wippert reminded jurors - no less than 39 times - of his client's age on the day of the attack.
In trying B.M. as an adult, Fox told jurors, "The law requires you to check your feelings at the door. The evidence in this case is beyond any doubt."
Several items pointing to white extremist group involvement where found in B.M.'s possession that allowed for the hate-crime allegations - B.M. had sketched swastikas and a Third Reich insignia.
He allegedly could not tolerate homosexuals or homosexual advances.
Wippert, in an attempt to explain the paraphernalia found in B.M.'s books and belongings, said that he had been working on a Hitler project for school. Furthermore, B.M.'s brother stated that the World War II items belonged to him, and not B.M.
Wippert said that B.M. was emotionally repressed and had been physically abused by his father. Unable to receive guidance from school officials that were aware of what was happening, the boy was upset by L.K. "parading back and forth in a sexy flirtatious manner", wearing makeup and asking B.M. to be his Valentine.
B.M. pleaded guilty to one count of murder and one count of a hate crime. He faces over 50 years of jail time if he is convicted and 21 years if convicted of voluntary
manslaughter.
Facing criminal charges? Contact a criminal defense attorney to manage your defense as soon as possible.
