E.O. Green School Shooting - Trial

Trial

On the first day of trial, the half brother of McInerney, James Bing, was admonished by Judge Campbell because it was overheard that Bing went to the jury outside of the courtroom and addressed them. He said: "The fate of my brother is in your hands." Bing was then banned from the courtroom unless he is summoned to testify. The prosecutor depicted McInerney as a popular teenager, who was skilled in martial arts and firing guns as well as being a white supremacist. She went on to describe King as a small guy who had often been picked on, saying that King wore high-heeled boots, makeup and jewelry along with his school uniform to school. Scott Wippert, McInerney's attorney described King as the aggressor, saying he often was sexually aggressive and often made inappropriate remarks, provoking McInerney.

Witnesses who were students and classmates of McInerney testified on July 7, 2011. One witness said that King told her he had changed his name to Leticia. Another witness said many students made fun of King and called him offensive names behind his back when he came to school wearing makeup and jewelry. A few of the witnesses said that they never noticed King making sexual advances toward other students but that sexual comments he made was "just messing" with McInerney.

The former vice principal of E.O. Green School, Joy Epstein testified on July 11, 2011. She said she had discussed King's behavior with other school officials of the school district and they decided it was according to the constitutional rights, legitimate for King to wear what he wanted unless it violated the school dress code. Joy Epstein said high-heeled boots, makeup and jewelry were all allowed according to the Oxnard school dress policy. She said another administrator within the district said that the school must protect the students civil and equal rights. Another teacher testified that pupils had told her King would seek them out and follow them into the bathroom, behavior she considered to be sexual harassment. She was told by Epstein the school could do nothing about the behavior.

On July 22, 2011, the jury was shown footage of a video in which McInerney was fighting in the Ventura County Juvenile hall, where he currently lives. One of the corrections officers, testified that the defendant was a "good kid" in the honors program for good behavior and had relationships with people of different backgrounds and origins. He said that within the juvenile hall environment fighting was a routine occurrence and that McInerney was not prone to violence as the prosecution alleged.

Dawn Boldrin, an English teacher had testified and said she counseled King and told him he should not wear attention-getting clothing if he did not want to receive negative attention. She also gave the teen, who was exploring his sexual and/or gender identity, a strapless, green, chiffon gown. She meant for him to wear it outside school. A photo was shown of Larry King holding up the dress and many people in the courtroom were crying. Greg King, Larry's father became upset and gathered his family to leave, but before doing so, Dawn King, Larry's mother, swore at Boldrin's 13-year old daughter and a relative. The judge later barred Dawn King from the remainder of the trial. Because the school administrators were allowing King to wear whatever he wanted as long as it did not violate the dress code, the defense was arguing that this allowed King to sexually harass McInerney.

The trial ended without a verdict and was declared a mistrial by the judge, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Charles Campbell, on Thursday, September 1, 2011, after the jury reported that they were hopelessly deadlocked and unable to reach a unanimous verdict. There were eight weeks of testimony with almost 100 witnesses, and the jury had been deliberating since August 26, 2011. The jury had taken four votes and the last vote was split between seven jurors voting for voluntary manslaughter and five jurors voting for either first-degree or second-degree murder.