Bus case decision: Whom to believe?

Unique and Gross testified for the defense. Kreager, Ennis, Williams and Joyce King - the woman who had her daughter call 911 as she ran from her home to help Kreager - were prosecution witnesses. Listening to the testimony of all five in court, objective observers might feel they've been plunked down squarely into the middle of a new movie called Rashomon Meets The Wire.

Unique's testimony matched Ennis' on some key points, which directly contradicted the bus driver's account. Unique and Ennis both said that Ennis stood near the back door while Kreager sat down. Williams said that Ennis sat down but that Kreager never did since she was prevented from doing so by Nakita McDaniels, who was taking up two seats while she filed her nails. (McDaniels, who filed assault charges against Kreager that are part of the public record, has been the only juvenile named in media reports.)

Unique said that Kreager had a black eye and got angry when the students laughed about it. Unique repeated the allegation that Kreager whispered something to Ennis, who then said, "Spit on those niggers." Unique testified that Nakita reacted by shouting "Ain't nobody going to spit on me!" and that Kreager answered "Don't talk to him like that!" Kreager, Unique said, hit Nakita first.

Williams said Nakita struck the first blow, that he heard no remarks about spitting and that no racial epithets were used. Gross said he heard a commotion in the back but couldn't make out the words. But he did identify Nakita as the girl he successfully restrained from getting off the bus and who opened the window beside him to exchange angry words with Kreager, who, Gross said, was outside the bus "ranting and raving, with her fists raised, still arguing, like she wanted to fight." Gross also said Nakita told him that Kreager had spit on her. Unique didn't mention any of that exchange between Gross and Nakita.

In King's account, students threw Kreager off the bus and started beating her immediately.

King seemed to be the most reliable witness. Unique was at least as credible as Kreager and Ennis. Gross seemed more believable than Williams. The bottom line is that at some point this fight crossed the line from legitimate self-defense - assuming it was self-defense at all - into a first- and second-degree assault of Kreager.

And Young said he was satisfied that the evidence showed precisely that.

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