Tuesday in court was supposed to be a pretty straight forward day for Alec Guessford: Let the family court commissioner watch, on video, as five of his black classmates taunt, harass and beat him on a school bus in April. Watch his classmate promise to never, ever do it again. Make a victim’s statement. Then get on with his life as a Dover, Delaware junior high student. Four of the assailants had already pled guilty to various charges of misdemeanor assault and conspiracy — including the person who took the video and posted it. But it got complicated when the fifth assailant, Tracy Matthews, decided to take his chances with a trial before the commissioner. Matthews said no matter what it seemed like on the video — he’s the one with the hoodie — he was not beating anyone. He was just looking for his headphones. The four assailants testified on behalf of their friend/accomplice. Before the trial, members of the Guessford family sat in the same witness room as the four people who pled guilty to beating their son. “They were laughing and taunting us,” said Dale Guessford, Alec’s dad. “Trying to intimidate us. Finally the court officials moved us into another room.” The four assailants were on better behavior in court. Good enough to persuade Commissioner Angela Fowler to let their friend go free with a finding of not guilty. Fowler, a former public defender and “child advocate” for State Attorney General Beau Biden, said she could not see the accused person actually assault Alec. “Guess she doesn’t have a slow motion switch on whatever she uses to watch videos,” Guessford said. “But even without it, it is easy to see Matthews participating in the assault. And easy to see other children watch him do it. Though they were never called as witnesses.” You can see the beating below, in slow motion:................
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 11:23:38 +0000
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