McInerney's Lawyer: I Won't Gay-Bash

Before the earlier postponement of McInerney’s arraignment on May 8, Quest told the Los Angeles Times that school administrators had allegedly been more interested in protecting King’s expression of his sexuality than in addressing the escalating friction between the two boys, which Quest blames at least in part on King’s allegedly having flirted openly with McInerney. “We think there will be evidence that the school, with the actions of Larry, didn’t quite know how to deal with it,” Quest told the Times.

Hueneme School District superintendent Jerry Dannenberg disagrees, telling the Times last month, “School officials definitely were aware of what was going on, and they were dealing with it appropriately.”

In an interview with The Advocate in May, Fox said she had not “seen anything that would make me raise an eyebrow about how the school handled” the situation.

Quest also appears poised to base McInerney’s defense at least in part on the boy’s allegedly troubled childhood. “We will establish that there was addiction on both the mom and dad and domestic violence, and...that had [an] effect on Brandon,” he said in an interview with National Public Radio posted online June 9.

On a personal note, Quest said, “I can tell The Advocate I’ve got a young brother who’s gay. I saw how difficult it was for him to come out. Now, he came out when he was in college at Berkeley, [so it was] easier than in junior high. But I saw the struggle he went through...and I hope [this is] not perceived as gay bashing because it’s not. That’s not who I am.”

With respect to the likely trial date, Fox said, “If I base it on regular murder trials, I would say next year sometime.”