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Brandon McInerney

Brandon McInerney To Be Retried In Larry King Murder; Hate Crime Charge Dropped

VENTURA, CALIFORNIA -— 17-year-old Brandon McInerney accused of murdering gay classmate Larry King in February of 2008 at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, will be retried on a murder charge Ventura County California prosecutors announced today.

The first trial, held in a Chatsworth, California courtroom in Los Angeles County due to pretrial publicity, ended with Superior Court Judge Charles Campbell declaring a mistrial after the nine-woman, three-man panel of jurors could not decide on the degree of guilt. Seven members of the panel were in favor of a voluntary manslaughter conviction, while five others supported either first-degree or second-degree murder.

Ventura County Deputy D.A. Maeve Fox said their intention is to pursue a murder charge in adult court against McInerney, but, a hate crime charge will be dropped. Fox also noted that Judge Campbell set a November 21st trial date, but it's unclear if it will be held in Ventura County.

Ventura's prosecution team has alleged that McInerney embraced a white supremacist philosophy, believing that homosexuality is an abomination. Oxnard detectives executing a search warrant in the aftermath of the murder found Nazi-inspired drawings and artifacts at his house, and an expert in white supremacist groups testified at trial for the prosecution- that in his opinion- the hate-filled ideology was the principal reason for McInerney's rage against King.

Prosecutor Fox during the trial stated that at least six witnesses had heard McInerney make threats against King in the days prior to the murder

Defense attorneys while acknowledging that their client was indeed guilty of shooting King, argued that McInerney had reached an emotional breaking point after King made repeated, unwanted sexual advances. Due to McInerney's age at the time of the shooting and his background of an abusive home environment according to the defense team, they have argued that juvenile court would be the best venue to try their client.

White House Announces Gautam Raghavan Is New Associate Director of Public Engagement

Gautam Raghavan 
Official White House Photo

WASHINGTON D. C. -- The White House announced Wednesday that Gautam Raghavan, the former deputy White House liaison at the Department of Defense, is the new LGBT community's liaison in the White House. White House Director of Specialty Media, Shin Inouye, said in a statement; "The White House is pleased to welcome Gautam Raghavan as an Associate Director of Public Engagement in the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs," adding that Raghavan "will serve as the point of contact for the LGBT community in his new role."

The Washington Blade previously reported on Sept. 23 that Raghavan had been designated for the role. According to the Blade:

The announcement on Wednesday is the first on the record comment confirming the appointment.
As LGBT point person, Raghavan will take over duties previously assigned to Brian Bond, who was deputy director of the Office of Public Engagement and LGBT liaison before he left in July for a position at the DNC. Upon Bond’s departure, Stephanie Valencia took over as deputy director at the White House Office of Public Engagement, while Raul Alvillar, an aide to Vice President Joseph Biden, took over as LGBT liaison on a temporary basis.

[...]

In a statement responding to the appointment, SLDN executive director Aubrey Sarvis said,

"We are pleased to welcome Gautam to his new post at the White House. He is well-respected in the LGBT community, but perhaps no more than here at SLDN where we worked closely with him in his role at the Pentagon helping to build the support needed and manage the repeal process of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'"

Mr. Raghavan has worked previously for the Democratic National Committee and the president's Obama for America campaign. A graduate of Stanford University he is currently pursuing a master's degree at George Washington University in Washington.