The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
16-year-old charged as an adult in fatal stabbing
The recent transfer of a murder charge for a Milford teenager from juvenile to adult court was the result of a state law that required that the case be tried in a system where the focus is different and the proceeding is public.
Under Connecticut law, defendants 15 years or older charged with murder or other serious felonies are automatically transferred to adult court.
Raul Eliah Valle, 16, a student at St. Joseph High School in Trumbull, faces charges of murder and three counts of first-degree assault for the May 14 stabbing death of 17-year-old James McGrath during a fight outside a home on Laurel Glen Drive in Shelton, where three others were also stabbed.
Valle at first appeared before a juvenile court judge during a closed door proceeding to determine probable cause. The case was then transferred to adult court.
“The hearing in the juvenile (court) is merely perfunctory — there is no argument — it is an automatic transfer up,” said Marisa Mascolo Halm, director of the Youth Justice Project at the Center for Children’s Advocacy. “There are several lesser felony offenses that are discretionary transfers (to adult court) upon motion of the prosecutor and do provide for some argument.”
Halm said she’s not convinced juveniles belong in adult court, regardless of the crime.
“In my opinion, all minors and their cases should be handled by the juvenile system,” Halm said. “The adult system is simply unequipped to do so.”
Mike Lawlor, a criminal justice professor at the University of New Haven, said adult court offers juvenile offenders a few advantages, including an exemption that can lower sentences due to a defendant’s age.
Juveniles in adult court can also post bail, which juvenile court does not offer, Lawlor noted.
“There is an irony that people assume consequences are more serious in adult court,” Lawlor said. “But when you look at the system, that’s not the way it works.”
Valle was released from jail last week on a $2 million bond and confined to his home.
Police said the incident began with a fight between Shelton High and St. Joseph High teens at a home in Shelton and continued after Valle and other teens moved to a different house party in the city. In all, four people were stabbed that night.
The differences
Connecticut has been adjusting the age in which teens can be tried in adult court for a number of years.
In 2015, state law was changed to prevent 14-yearolds from being transferred to adult court for Class A and B felonies, which includes murder and manslaughter. The change also eliminated life without parole for juveniles.
Defendants 15 years old and older charged with a Class C or D felony, or an unclassified felony, can only be transferred to adult court if the request is granted by a juvenile court judge. Class C felonies include assault, burglary and second-degree manslaughter and Class D felonies include first-degree threatening, criminal mischief and perjury.
Juvenile court is generally focused on helping teens and children get back on track while doling out an appropriate punishment. In fact, the terms used in juvenile and adult court vary greatly.
For example, in juvenile court a conviction is called an “adjudication,” parole is “after care,” a crime is a “delinquent act” and a sentence is a “disposition.”
Those convicted in juvenile court can go to jail — or more accurately a detention center — or be confined to their home. All proceedings are conducted behind closed doors.
“The adult court is about justice and punishment,” said Dan Maxwell, a criminal justice professor at the University of New Haven. “The idea is we don’t want to treat juveniles as adults because we are labeling them as adults and maybe they will do things like adults, including committing crimes.”
Maxwell said juvenile defendants can receive a jury trial in adult court while charges in juvenile court are decided by a judge.
“Punishment depends on what the crime is,” Maxwell said, referring to juvenile court. “It’s whatever is in the best interest of the child.”
Maxwell said juvenile court sentences often include counseling, classes and enrolling in anger management and mental health services.
Rehabilitation or punishment?
Adult court is not set up to handle the unique challenges that come with troubled juveniles, Halm said.
“In adult court, young people, whose propensity for mistakes is actually a
feature of their brain development, sit for months and possibly years awaiting a resolution of their case, with very limited access to developmentally appropriate services,” Halm said.
“In the juvenile system, case resolution happens much more quickly, and youth are provided developmentally appropriate services focused on rehabilitation at an early stage,” Halm said.
Lawlor agreed that the goal of the two court systems is different, with the juvenile court geared more towards rehabilitation.
“The theory is young kids do stupid stuff they would not do if they were older and there is a lot of science behind that,” Lawlor said. “On the other hand, Connecticut says if you do something off the charts bad, like murder, that’s different.”
Lawlor said if Valle is convicted of murder, or a lesser crime such as manslaughter, he could benefit from the requirement that
the judge consider his age during sentencing.
“That might be more of a factor for a kid like this,” Lawlor said. “The mandatory minimum for murder is 25 years. The judge could go beneath the 25 years.”
Juveniles convicted in adult court for lesser crimes are more likely to receive probation than a prison sentence, Lawlor said.
“There has been a lot of focus on stolen cars recently,” Lawlor said. “If you’re 17 and it goes to adult court, you are almost certain to get probation (for car theft). You go from being a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a big pond.”
“If you are focused on punishment, you want the adult system,” Lawlor said. “But you have to change that system too because the vast majority (of juveniles in adult court) never get sent to prison.”