RULING ANGERS VICTIM'S FATHER BASEBALL-BAT ATTACK KILLED BOY.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer

PALMDALE -- The father of a teen killed when another boy hit him in the head with a bat after a youth baseball game said Tuesday he was ``insulted'' and angered by the appellate court ruling this week that reduced the defendant's murder conviction to voluntary manslaughter.

Jeremy Rourke's father, Brian, said the ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeal that overturned the second-degree murder conviction of Gregory Harris Jr. was something he never expected.

``I went to the trial. I didn't think there was any possible way that it would be overturned, based on the trial and everything that we went through and the facts done during the case,'' Brian Rourke said. ``I didn't think there was a glimpse of a chance that it would be overturned.''

In contrast to Brian Rourke, Harris' mother, Gigi, said she and her husband always knew that things would work out in their favor.

``We are just ecstatic. We are overwhelmed. We knew, my husband and I, we knew even though with the ruling in the beginning, we still had faith that it would turn out OK,'' Gigi Harris said. ``We knew who our son was that day, and we still know who he is today.''

Jeremy Rourke, a 15-year-old Highland High School freshman described by family and friends as an avid athlete who enjoyed being a junior umpire, died within hours of being hit in the head April 12, 2005, at the Palmdale PONY League baseball complex, where he was a spectator.

While they stood in line at the baseball field snack bar, Rourke had teased the younger boy about losing a game and pushed him, witnesses said. Harris hit Rourke in the knee with an aluminum bat, then seconds later hit him on the neck, severing an artery. Harris, now 15, was sentenced in July 2005 to California Youth Authority confinement until he is 25.

A three-judge panel on Monday threw out Harris' murder conviction and ordered that he be resentenced on the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.

The appellate court found that Harris, 13 at the time, acted ``in the heat of passion'' and did not harbor an intent to kill. The appellate decision noted Juvenile Court Judge Richard Naranjo's statement about Harris' emotional state, that he was upset, angered, and ``in the heat of passion.''

A person who kills in the heat of passion lacks malice, an essential element of second-degree murder, the ruling said. ``Here, all the evidence indicated Gregory acted in the heat of passion, as the trial court stated, and therefore fails to support the finding of second-degree murder,'' the ruling said.

Rourke took issue with the justices appearing to focus on Naranjo's words, which were said when he announced the verdict and was not part of trial testimony, Rourke said.

``I'm kind of insulted by the ruling of the judges, that they took three words that the judge said and overruled something that (the judge) saw firsthand during the trial,'' Rourke said.

``I would hope when it goes back to the judge again for sentencing -- I don't know what the maximum is -- I hope that the maximum for voluntary manslaughter is the same amount of time,'' Brian Rourke said.

Gigi Harris said she broke down in tears upon hearing about the reversal.

``Not a day goes by when we don't think about it and pray. We have a lot of faith. We did believe and knew in our hearts everything would turn out even though it was not in our favor in the beginning. We knew it was a tragedy and an accident. We know our son, and we know his heart. Our hearts go out to the families. It was a tragedy for both. We keep them in our prayers.''

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