LITTLEROCK ATHLETE TO BE TRIED AS ADULT IN SLAYING.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer SYLMAR - A 17-year-old Littlerock High School Littlerock High School is a public, co-educational high school located in Littlerock, California. It is the a part of the Antelope Valley High School District (AVHSD). External links
Following a two-day hearing, Sylmar Juvenile Court juvenile court Special court handling problems of delinquent, neglected, or abused children. Two types of cases are processed by a juvenile court: civil matters, often concerning care of an abandoned or impoverished child, and criminal matters, arising from antisocial Judge Morton Rochman ruled that Richard Newton Richard Newton (1777 – 1798) was an English caricaturist. Short lived but brilliant British Caricaturist. He published his first caricature at 13. Pioneer of the strip form of cartoon. was not fit to remain in Juvenile Court in the slaying of 19-year-old Christopher O'Leary, a former Littlerock High student. O'Leary's mother, Kathleen Harris, broke down in tears after Rochman's ruling, court officials said. ``I believe (the judge) said he found there to be collusion An agreement between two or more people to defraud a person of his or her rights or to obtain something that is prohibited by law. A secret arrangement wherein two or more people whose legal interests seemingly conflict conspire to commit Fraud and mutual assent An intentional approval of known facts that are offered by another for acceptance; agreement; consent. Express assent is manifest confirmation of a position for approval. , that there were at least three people involved in the act,'' said Newton's attorney, Denise McLaughlin-Bennett. Newton was ordered detained de·tain tr.v. de·tained, de·tain·ing, de·tains 1. To keep from proceeding; delay or retard. 2. To keep in custody or temporary confinement: at Sylmar Juvenile Hall in lieu of $1 million bail. Newton and his 17-year-old co-defendants, Marcus Raines and Rodney Woods, are charged with murder and assault in the May 20 attack on O'Leary at a party in Palmdale. Fitness hearings for Raines and Woods are scheduled for next month. The three, plus a fourth teen, are also charged with assaulting a friend of O'Leary's. During Thursday's hearing, Deputy Probation Officer probation officer n. 1. An official usually attached to a juvenile court and charged with the care of juvenile delinquents. 2. An official charged with supervising convicts at large on suspended sentence or probation. Jerome Hanken said he believed that Newton met all five criteria for being tried in Juvenile Court. But under questioning Friday by Deputy District Attorney Melissa Decker, Hanken changed his mind about the the circumstances and gravity of the offense, after Decker cited Newton's involvement in fights prior to O'Leary's beating and his conduct the night of the incident. If found unfit on one of the five criteria, the juvenile defendant is sent to adult court. Newton and another student were cited after a fistfight in the boys locker room in 1998. In March 1999, a teacher said he saw Newton and Woods hit and kick another student. In July 1999, Newton and Woods were accused of punching and throwing paint on another boy during a graffiti cleanup day in Littlerock. Decker said witnesses reported that Newton bragged about and re-enacted the assault on O'Leary, saying he knocked him out with one punch. Witnesses said they saw Newton ``sucker-punch'' O'Leary on the side of the head and kick him while he was on the ground. Decker also suggested that Newton acted with ``implied malice malice, in law, an intentional violation of the law of crimes or torts that injures another person. Malice need not involve a malignant spirit or the definite intent to do harm. ,'' in that, as a football player, Newton knew the consequences of kicking someone in the head while that person was not wearing a helmet. Given all of that, Decker asked Hanken whether he still considered Newton fit to be tried in Juvenile Court. Hanken replied, ``If I were certain that those were absolutely true statements, I would recommend unfit.'' |
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