Teen seeks transfer to juvenile court
He’s accused of stabbing siblings
HATFIELD >> A Lansdale teenager charged as an adult with attempted homicide after he allegedly stabbed and seriously injured his two siblings during a knife attack on a Hatfield Township playground will seek to have his case moved to juvenile court, according to his lawyer.
“We look forward to the opportunity to show the commonwealth, the D.A.’s office, and if necessary, the court, that Nathan is in need of treatment as a juvenile and does not belong in the adult criminal justice system,” defense lawyer Michael Drossner
said Thursday on behalf of 15-year-old Nathan Serrano.
Serrano, of the 1100 block of Elm Avenue, faces charges of attempted homicide, aggravated and simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, possessing an instrument of crime and harassment in connection with the alleged Feb. 22 knife attack on a playground at the rear of Oak Park Elementary School in Hatfield Township.
Police and Montgomery County prosecutors charged Serrano as an adult, relying on state laws that allow certain juveniles to face adult charges if they are accused of committing violent crimes with a weapon. If Serrano is convicted in adult court of attempted homicide or aggravated assault, he could face a possible maximum sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison.
However, Drossner intends to file a petition seeking to decertify Serrano’s case to the county’s juvenile court where potential punishments are less harsh and the focus is more on rehabilitation and treatment. If the case is transferred to juvenile court and the charges are proven, then Serrano could be kept under court supervision until he’s 21.
After Drossner files the petition to decertify, prosecutors could agree to have the case moved to juvenile court but if no agreement is reached, then a county judge would decide the matter during a so-called decertification hearing.
Typically, during decer- tification hearings, defense lawyers have to establish that transferring a case to juvenile court will serve the public interest and that the juvenile is in need of treatment and rehabilitative programs.
Juvenile court cases are handled differently than adult criminal cases. In juvenile court, there are no juries and all cases are handled by a judge. While adult court proceedings focus more on punishment, in juvenile court the focus is on rehabilitation.
In juvenile court, defendants are never referred to as “guilty,” but are considered “adjudicated delinquent” if the charges are proven. Additionally, juvenile courts aren’t bound by the same sentencing guidelines used in criminal courts.
Punishments in juvenile court can include placement in a juvenile detention facility, a rehabilitation facility or house arrest.
To get the case transferred to juvenile court, Drossner will have to convince prosecutors or a judge that Serrano is amenable to treatment in the juvenile system.
Serrano waived his preliminary hearing this week before District Court Judge Andrea Hudak Duffy, moving the case to county court. Serrano is currently being held at the county Youth Center in lieu of $500,000 bail while awaiting court action.
According to court documents, an investigation began about 5:20 p.m. on Feb. 22 when Hatfield Township police responded to the school property at 500 Squirrel Lane for a reported stabbing after a woman called 911 and reported, “My son stabbed my other son and my daughter. Please help me now,” according to a criminal complaint filed by Hatfield Township Detective Sgt. Richard Hoffner.
The woman further advised, “My son is schizophrenic. He stabbed my other two kids and I can’t find my daughter and my son is full of blood sitting in the snow. I am in the back of the school,” according to court papers.
Arriving officers located the woman behind the school with her 13-yearold son who was lying on his back with a black coat draped over him and he was “visibly injured and going in and out of consciousness,” Hoffner alleged. The woman’s 9-yearold daughter was sitting on the ground bleeding from a head wound.
As officers rendered aid to the 13-year-old boy they observed he had stab wounds to both of his hands, a large open laceration to his face near his mouth and a stab wound to his chest below
his throat, according to the criminal complaint.
Both victims were transported by ambulance to Lehigh Valley Hospital – Cedar Crest for further medical treatment.
Police obtained video surveillance footage which captured the alleged attack as all three siblings were at the playground behind the school building.
Serrano was observed chasing his younger brother from the playground toward the school building and the younger boy fell over a snow embankment and wound up lying on his back in the snow.
“Nathan Serrano stood over (the victim) and repeatedly stabbed him with the knife he was holding in his right hand,” Hoffner alleged, adding Serrano also slashed the younger boy in the face.
Serrano then allegedly grabbed his 9-year-old sister from behind and appeared to try and cut her throat with the knife. As the girl ran away, Serrano chased her, pushed her down to the sidewalk and then “appeared to stab her repeatedly with the knife,” Hoffner alleged, referring to the depictions contained in the video surveillance.
After the girl got up and ran away, Serrano threw the knife away and investigators later recovered the knife in the snow in the vicinity of where the alleged attack occurred.
“After attacking his brother and sister, Nathan Serrano appears to be using his cellular telephone as he walks around his injured siblings prior to running off towards Oak Park Road. Nathan Serrano was later located at a nearby residence and taken into custody without incident,” Hoffner wrote in the arrest affidavit.
According to authorities, the 13-year-old male victim underwent surgery after suffering 15 stab wounds and lacerations to his back, right shoulder, hands, sternum, head and face. The 9-year-old female victim was treated for lacerations to the top of her scalp and she received sutures and was released from the hospital, according to court papers.