A Spokane County judge will announce tomorrow [Tuesday] whether the teenager accused of carrying out a fatal shooting at Freeman High School in 2017 will be tried as a juvenile or an adult. One student died during the shooting, three others were hurt.
For the last week, Superior Court Judge Michael Price has presided over a hearing involving the now 17-year-old defendant.
Because he’s still a minor, we’re not using his name.
During closing arguments Monday morning, Prosecutor Larry Haskell and defense attorney Bevan Maxey reviewed the elements that courts must consider in deciding whether to try minors as adults.
They include whether the defendant was sophisticated enough to fully understand the actions he’s alleged to have taken. Haskell argued the teen had planned the shooting for two years, that he studied past school shootings and researched where to carry it out to do the maximum damage. Haskell said, in an interview with deputies afterward, that the defendant was aware of what his punishment might be.
Defense attorney Maxey pointed to testimony by Seattle child psychiatrist Richard Adler that the teen may have suffered brain damage because of circumstances at his birth. Adler said he tested the defendant several months after his arrest and found the boy was immature emotionally and had a moderate learning disorder. Now, he says, the teen is on ritalin and has structure in his life and is maturing.
If the defendant is tried and convicted as a juvenile, he could be freed on his 21st birthday with no further restrictions. If he’s convicted as an adult, he could be held until he’s at least 25.
Adler testified, given the defendant’s progress, he would be ready for face life on his own at 21. Prosecutor Haskell disagreed with that, saying an extra four years of confinement, along with regular counseling and his brain’s natural maturation process, would be best, both for the teen and for the community at large.
