Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 3, 1994 TAG: 9407030136
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATE BAILEY ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
He was convicted of second-degree murder by a judge who opted to try him as a juvenile instead of as an adult because of a greater chance of rehabilitation in the state juvenile corrections system.
John, whose real name is not used because of his juvenile status, said the judge's decision may have saved his life. He said he knows of juveniles convicted as adults who returned to the streets after receiving suspended sentences.
"I don't think they learned nothing," he said.
That is one of the reasons Virginia lawmakers voted earlier this year to broaden judges' options for punishment of juveniles in the face of rising youth crime. The new law also allows more chances for rehabilitation.
"A lot of these kids get the idea that they walk when they go to adult court," said Audrey Franks, chief judge of Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. "They get suspended time and to the kids that's nothing."
Kim Echelberger, legislative analyst with the state Commission on Youth, said when juveniles go to circuit court "they look younger, they look smaller." Judges' "perception of their relative risk to society may be different" from an adult offender, she said, and they would be more apt to receive suspended sentences.
Franks said the new law, which took effect Friday, will help judges answer the question that often nags at them when youthful offenders approach the bench: "If you have a 15-year-old or a 16-year-old and they're charged with murder, rape, robbery, armed assault . . . what do you do with them?"
In John's case, the judge could sentence him to no more than one year in the juvenile system, after which the case was turned over to the state Department of Youth and Family Services. Only the department could decide whether a juvenile would be held to the maximum age of 21. John is now 19 and still in the juvenile system at the Hanover Learning Center.
The new law will let judges sentence young offenders to terms as long as seven years in the juvenile system - or until the offender turns 21 - without state intervention. It will also lower the age that a youthful offender can be convicted as an adult from 15 to 14.
"A big part of the goal was to keep the juveniles within the juvenile system and develop programs within the juvenile system that are appropriate for rehabilitation," Franks said.
"Just because a child commits an adult crime does not mean the child is an adult," said Del. Jerrauld Jones, D-Norfolk, who sponsored the youth crime bill approved by the 1994 General Assembly.
Susan was 14 years old when her parents were fatally shot in their home. Young and attractive, she hardly looks the type to be serving time in a juvenile prison for first-degree murder.
Susan, whose anonymity was protected because of her juvenile status, said her 17-year-old boyfriend was responsible for the killings. He was tried as an adult and sentenced to die.
"Sometimes you get caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people," she said during a recent interview at the Bon Air Learning Center near Richmond.
Like John, Susan, now 17, doesn't know how much longer she'll be in state custody. Both are hoping to be released before they turn 21.
She said that once she's released, she plans to go to community college, get a job and spend a lot of time with her grandparents and other relatives.
Since being in state custody, Susan has received therapy and other rehabilitative treatment.
Nancy Ross, director of the state Commission on Youth, said the changes in sentencing appear to be a "let's get tough" method, but are designed to help juveniles improve themselves and stay out of prison.
"We're asking for hard-core therapeutic intervention for these kids," she said.
by CNB