Questions Linger After Fatal Beating of Black Student

Six weeks after his death, questions continue to be asked in the slaying of a black high school student in Pasadena. Noah Jamahl Jones died after a brawl at a Pasadena party in July. Murder charges were brought and then dropped against four white students. The Anne Arundel County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has asked for a federal civil rights investigation into Jones' death. But attorneys for two of the four white young men contend Jones was part of an armed group that came looking for a fight. Also, prosecutors say Jones and another friend were charged in Juvenile Court with severely beating another teenager last spring. Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Frank Weathersbee has convened a grand jury to consider whether murder charges should be refiled. It met for a second time. But some Maryland-based legal experts familiar with the case said they were surprised by Weathersbee's actions. "In a serious case involving a murder, it's highly unusual for a prosecutor to dismiss charges before a full investigation and final autopsy report" has been completed, said Doug Colbert, a professor of law at the University of Maryland and former defense lawyer who teaches courses in race and the law. [more ]