Lawrence King's Killer Pleads Guilty and Accepts Prison Term

Candidly, I never could quite understand how the jurors in the Brandon McInerney murder trail could end up with a hung jury. There really was never any question about McInerney's killing of Lawrence King. That said, with every year that I am a licensed attorney (34 years at this point), the lower my opinion becomes of our justice system in general. Justice is too often a total crap shoot based on which judge one draws and the intelligence or idiocy of the jurors. And this lottery form of justice extends to both civil and criminal cases. Now, Brandon McInerney has avoided another murder trial and the attendant media circus by taking a plead deal and accepting a 21 year prison sentence. The Los Angeles Times has the details. Here are some highlights:

The Oxnard teen who shot a gay classmate he believed was flirting with him has agreed to spend the next 21 years in prison, a plea deal that ends a case that drew national attention and ignited debate on how schools should deal with openly gay students.

Brandon McInerney, who was 14 when he pulled a gun out of his backpack and shot Larry King twice in the head in 2008, has already served nearly four years in jail and would be released by the time he is 38, under terms of the deal.

"Larry had a complicated life, but he did not deserve to be murdered," the youth's father,Greg King, said after a court hearing Monday afternoon.

During the first trial, prosecutors portrayed McInerney as a budding white supremacist who hated homosexuals and was enraged by King's sexuality and aggressive flirtations. The defense argued that McInerney was the product of a violent and dysfunctional home and had reached an emotional breaking point in response to King's advances.

"Brandon McInerney killed Larry King and should go to jail for his crime,'' said Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. "However, the first trial subjected everyone -- especially Larry and Brandon's peers -- to a painful spectacle that accomplished nothing."

I won't say that McInerney didn't likely have a home life from Hell. However, many individuals have had horrific home lives and knew that murdering someone was flat out wrong. Circumstances do not eliminate responsibility on the part of those who do violence against others.