Griego defense appeals to state Supreme Court
Lawyers argue double jeopardy and due process problems exist in case
Alleging double jeopardy and due process problems, defense attorneys have asked the Supreme Court to review a recent decision by the Court of Appeals in the case against Nehemiah Griego.
Meanwhile, the case is moving through Children’s Court. Griego was before Judge John Romero on Thursday as prosecutors sought access to his Children, Youth and Family Department records.
Griego, who was 15 when he shot and killed his parents and three young siblings in their South Valley home in 2013, was originally sentenced as a juvenile, meaning he was set for release from custody on his 21st birthday.
But days before his release, the Court of Appeals overturned Romero’s determination that Griego would respond to treatment. The case was sent back for a new amenability hearing, during which the judge must again consider whether Griego should be sentenced as a child or as an adult.
The petition seeking review by the state’s highest court was filed April 9 by Griego’s appellate public defender, Theodosia Johnson.
The court ruling, she argued, “created double jeopardy and due process problems” for Griego and other juvenile offenders in the same situation.
The state now has an opportunity to respond.
His case before Romero is scheduled for another hearing May 15.