Defense: Fla. teen didn't plot burning attack

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A defense attorney says a South Florida teenager did not plot or take part in an attack that resulted in a middle school classmate being set ablaze and nearly killed.

Attorney Perry Thurston said in an opening statement Tuesday that Matthew Bent was present but did not orchestrate the 2009 attack on then-15-year-old Michael Brewer. Thurston told jurors the blame belongs on two other boys, one who poured rubbing alcohol on Brewer and another who lit the fire with a lighter.