JUDGE MAY SPARE TEEN TRIAL AS ADULT.Byline: Donna Huffaker Staff Writer Juvenile defendants in a murder case can be indicted by a grand jury only if they are accused of personally carrying out the killing, a judge said Monday. The statement by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler could set the way for a 15-year-old suspect in the killing of a Hoover High School senior to be tried in Juvenile Court juvenile court n. a special court or department of a trial court which deals with under-age defendants charged with crimes or who are neglected or out of the control of their parents. The normal age of these defendants is under 18, but juvenile court does not have jurisdiction in cases in which minors are charged as adults. The procedure in juvenile court is not always adversarial (although the minor is entitled to legal representation by a lawyer).. He will make an official ruling Thursday. Under Proposition 21, Rafael Gevorgyan of North Hollywood could be tried as an adult and, if convicted, could face a life sentence without the possibility of parole. If found guilty in Juvenile Court, he could be eligible for release between ages 18 and 25. According to grand jury grand jury n. a jury in each county or federal court district which serves for a term of a year and is usually selected from a list of nominees offered by the judges in the county or district. The traditional 23 members may be appointed or have their names drawn from those nominated. documents obtained earlier this month by the Daily News, authorities say the crowbar-wielding Gevorgyan did not cause the death of the 17-year-old victim. Rather, according to a deputy medical examiner's report, Raul Aguirre died from stab wounds to his chest, which authorities allege were inflicted by Karen Terteryan, 18, of Glendale. On Sept. 14, Fidler ruled that the grand jury did not have the right to indict three minor suspects in the case. Terteryan, 17 at the time of the killing, Gevorgyan and Anait Ano Msryan are charged with murder, attempted murder and street gang terrorism in the May 5 attack. Under Proposition 21, juveniles charged with murder go straight to adult court. Prosecutors are seeking to try the teen-agers as adults. Revising his earlier ruling, Fidler said Monday that if the minors ``personally killed'' the victim, the grand jury can indict them. Pointing out that he had not finished reading the nearly 400-page grand jury transcript, Fidler said the grand jury, in order to indict, needed to have evidence that the defendants ``personally killed'' Aguirre. If no such evidence exists, then that is an ambiguous area, Fidler said. Deputy District Attorney Steven Lopez amended the indictment last week to add the allegation that Gevorgyan ``personally killed'' Aguirre. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion