Student, 16, Accused in Brawl Will Stand Trial : Courts: James Lee of Westlake High will face charges for allegedly striking classmate with a weapon. Two suffered gunshot wounds in melee.

A 16-year-old Westlake High School student accused of participating in an off-campus brawl that left two classmates wounded by gunfire in February must stand trial, a judge ruled Wednesday.

After hearing testimony at a preliminary hearing, Ventura County Municipal Judge Bruce A. Clark said prosecutors had presented enough evidence to suggest that defendant James Lee struck a Westlake High football player with either a baseball bat or a 2-by-4 board during the Feb. 4 melee.

Clark scheduled an April 27 arraignment in Superior Court for Lee, who is being tried as an adult because of the seriousness of the case. Lee is charged with assault with a deadly weapon and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury.

He was arrested in connection with the free-for-all at North Ranch Playfield, a park near the school, that resulted in one student being shot in the back of the head and another being shot in the shoulder. Both of the injured students have been released from the hospital and are expected to fully recover.

Investigators testified Wednesday that Lee and Westlake football player Curtis Simmons agreed to engage in a fistfight at the park. Lee arrived with up to 14 friends armed with sticks, bats, boards, guns and other weapons, the investigators said.

The two students were shot after Lee and his supporters attacked Simmons with fists and blunt objects, they said.

Three of Lee’s teen-age friends also face trials in the case. A judge will decide later this month whether they should be tried as adults.

Steven M. O’Neil, a Ventura County district attorney’s investigator who said he had interviewed several witnesses, told Clark that Lee and Simmons had maintained a feud prior to the brawl.

Lee, whose nose was broken in a fight with Simmons last year, had threatened to shoot his adversary in school one day, O’Neil testified.

“If you pull a gun, I’m going to break your neck and not stop the bleeding,” was Simmons’ response, O’Neil told the judge.

Both Lee and Simmons arranged for backup to accompany them to the scheduled fight at the park, O’Neil said.

He said four witnesses saw Lee swinging either a 2-by-4 board or a baseball bat at Simmons, who suffered minor injuries in the brawl.

Under cross-examination, O’Neil acknowledged that two other witnesses have told investigators that Lee had no weapon.

Lee’s attorney, Thomas A. Mesereau Jr., said his client denies having any weapon during the melee. Lee is not accused of possessing or firing a gun.

Mesereau also reiterated an earlier statement that the prosecution against Lee and his three friends--all Asian Americans--appears to be racially motivated. He said Simmons and two boys who came to the park as his backup also should be facing criminal charges.

“I still maintain that Mr. Simmons is not lily white in this incident, and that Mr. Simmons was not charged because he is Caucasian and my client is Asian,” Mesereau said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. John A. Vanarelli denied the racism charge, saying the Asian American juveniles are being charged because they brought weapons to the brawl.

“Had any of those Caucasian kids brought a weapon, we would have prosecuted them,” Vanarelli said.