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December 29, 2005Student, officer in school pepper-spray case have moved onCADILLAC - More than a year after a police officer pepper-sprayed a 14-year-old student as she protested a punishment in her school cafeteria, the featured players are no longer at Cadillac Junior High School.LaRanda Henry, the student, moved to another school. Karen Gregg, the police officer, moved to another beat. And two school officials who testified against Henry in a criminal trial - junior high principal Jack Richards and school counselor David Embertson - also are gone from the junior high school. The case started in November 2004, when Henry refused demands that she eat her lunch in the principal's office instead of the cafeteria. After Gregg responded - and unloaded a can of pepper spray in the student's face - Henry faced juvenile court charges of assault and resisting arrest, a felony. Henry was found not guilty at her trial last winter and she told reporters she hoped her acquittal would teach school officials not to turn to police to resolve disputes with students. But almost a year later, Henry isn't talking about the case, and her mother filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Cadillac and Gregg. Henry's mother, Tina Harris, said the girl switched schools, and although the episode was tough on her daughter, she is happy and doing well at her new school. Harris said she couldn't say anything more. "I've been instructed not to talk to reporters," she said. Asked why she couldn't talk to reporters, Harris said, "I just have been, OK?" William Barnett, LaRanda's criminal defense attorney, said he agreed to a request from the attorney representing Henry and Harris in the civil lawsuit not to comment during settlement negotiations. The plaintiff attorney, Randy Wallace of Berkley, did not return a message seeking comment. Meanwhile, there are new faces in the junior high halls. City and police officials maintain Gregg's transfer from the school had nothing do to with the pepper spray case. Junior high principal Richards could not be reached for comment. Embertson, responding to an e-mailed inquiry about whether he was transferred as a result of the case, said he had no comment. Superintendent Paul Liabenow could not be reached for comment.
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