Teen charged in plot requests newjudge
castle rock » Lawyers for one of the two 16- yearold girls charged in an alleged plot to kill classmates and staff members at their Highlands Ranch high school signaled in court filings they want a new judge.
Brooke Higgins’ attorneys onMonday submitted a notice claiming they have “good faith basis” to raise concerns about District Judge Paul A. King and say they plan to ask for his removal.
“All proceedings must be suspended when such motion is filed and until is it resolved,” Higgins’ defense team wrote.
The filings did not indicate why they believe King is biased or prejudiced and should not preside over the case.
Higgins appeared in court Friday.
King scheduled a threeday hearing for May 23 to determine if her case will remain in adult court.
Higgins did not speak during the proceedings, sitting shackled in jail clothes in front of her parents. Attorneys did not discuss Higgins’ $ 1 million bail, as was planned.
Two counts of conspiracy to commit first- degreemurder were leveled against Higgins this month.
Her co- defendant, Sienna Johnson, faces the same allegations.
Lawyers for both girls are seeking to have their cases returned to juvenile court, saying the allegations against the teens represent a misunderstanding.
King is the judge for both and is slated to decide in which court they should be tried.
Prosecutors say the two girls plotted to commit a mass shooting at Mountain Vista High School in the days before Christmas break.
Higgins allegedly searched the Internet for ways to purchase firearms as a minor, using a site described as “a Craigslist for weapons.”
Among her searches, prosecutors say, Higgins tried to find out if a child could purchase weapons at gun shows and sought information on female mass shooters.
Higgins wrote in her journal that she wished she could have participated in the 1999 Columbine High School attack, which left 12 students and a teacher dead, authorities say.
A friend told investigators that Higgins gave her instructions to follow any warning not to come to school.
Authorities say the girls’ scheme was foiled days before it was supposed to be carried outwhen the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to the case via text message.
The Denver Post found that sheriff’s investigators had been alerted to violent Internet posts by Johnson months before authorities learned of the alleged murder plot.
Sheriff Tony Spurlock said she was fully vetted and that the probe was dropped after no criminal wrongdoing was found.
Johnson and Higgins were arrested Dec. 12. Court records in the case remain sealed.