Back in June Dr. Huginkiss blogged about Nathaniel Abraham, who shot and killed a man at age 11 in 1997. He was arrested again this past June, this time for drug distribution (carrying over 250 tablets of Ecstasy in his trunk). He plead guilty of possession rather than face trial for distribution, and his attorney thinks he'll probably get around three years in prison.[A quick aside: I'm struck by the image of him in this article and how similar he appears to the sad, 13 year-old boy who was tried for murder in 1999.]
At that time, Nathaniel was the youngest person ever to be tried for murder. Sadly, that record may soon be broken as Arizona police are urging prosecutors to charge an 8 year-old as an adult for murdering his father and a family friend after he confessed to killing them. However, the same police department questioned the boy without an attorney or his mother present, so it is unlikely the confession will be admissable in court.
So, we have two potential truths to this crime:
First possible truth: the child really did kill his father and another adult (supposedly, the shooting was "execution-style"). If that is the case, what's the justification for trying an 8 year-old boy as an adult? Given that many states are repealing or increasing ages for juvenile waiver, it seems Arizona is out of touch with sentencing philosophy for juveniles. I just hope the justice system doesn't fail this young man as it has failed so many others in the era of "get tough" policies for juvenile offenders.
Second possible truth: the child is innocent. As the mother of a 7 year-old, this case makes me nauseous. I picture my son finding his father's body, arrested for the crime, sitting in jail awaiting trial, shackled in court... ugh. It's too much.
I can only hope the State of Arizona gets its act together for the sake of this child and all the others who come in contact with the justice system.
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7 comments:
Thanks for posting about this. It was on my list of items for the upcoming Lightning Round, but I think it's an important enough story that it deserves its own post, so I'm happy to see one.
Given my opposition to the practice of trying youth as adults -- especially youth as young as 8 -- I have been watching this case with interest. Of the many objections I have to the prospect of this boy being tried as an adult, here is perhaps the simplest: can we as reasonable people conceive of any other possible scenario in which an 8-year-old child would be deemed to have adult reasoning/decision-making powers? Here are two quick examples.
First, imagine that an 8-year-old child lived with a single parent who was seriously injured and on life support in the hospital. Would the physicians allow that child to make the final determination of whether or when to end life support? I can't imagine they would. Wouldn't they find another adult relative -- even if that person was more distantly related to the patient -- to make that call?
Second, consider an 8-year-old child whose parents are killed in an automobile accident. Would an estate attorney allow that child to make decisions about what to do with the parents' estate funds?
The answer in both cases, I think, is a resounding "NO". In those examples, I would think the physicians and attorneys could face malpractice charges for allowing a child to make extremely consequential legal/medical decisions. (AZ JD and Trailing Spouse: am I correct?) But when it comes to trying kids as adults, we have no problems assigning adult reasoning capacity to kids. I just don't understand it...
Your hypotheticals would never get to that point. A guardian ad litem would be appointed in the scenarios you raise to act on the child's behalf.
So, I suggest that a guardian ad litem be appointed for this 8 year old and that person be charged with murder.
Well, that makes about as much sense as charging this kid with murder, doesn't it?
I suppose the Arizona criminal defense attorney in this happy little group should make some sort of comment.
Yes...many of us here were shocked as well, by both the crime and the handling of it.
I'm not fully familiar with the facts of the case and my commentary will therefore be highly speculative. Having been said, it seems fairly difficult for me to believe that a court would find that he voluntarily and intelligently waived his right to counsel during questioning even if informed of such a right. Were I this youngster's attorney, one of my first concerns would be a violation of Miranda and a suppression of any statements made to police as a result.
Understandably, the police, faced with what appears to be an incredibly high-profile and gruesome crime, were anxious to get answers and find out details during their investigation. However, it would seem to me that, even at the expense of the investigation, the more prudent route would have been to not question the child until counsel was assigned or volunteered pro bono.
Just some thoughts...
Okay . . . a mere dilettante primary care doc (no "CSI" in my life, thanks . . . . )
Is anyone even certain that this child actually pulled the trigger?? I'm no expert on forensic interviews, but watching the video and comparing my understanding of child development and intellectual capacity, I wouldn't believe a thing he admitted to in that interview. Looks like a pretty hasty conclusion on my part.
Comments from anyone who actually understands crime?
MFD,
This case seems anything but clear-cut. The men were shot execution-style, and this child has no record of criminal or asocial behavior. He also says he shoots his dad again, so he didn't have to suffer. That doesn't sound like something an 8-year-old to say.
On the other hand, he seems relatively detached when talking about what happened. I'm no expert on interrogation, so I really couldn't say.
Given all those things, it's certainly possible that he shot the two men; however, charging him an adult is outrageous and does no good for anyone.
This case is complicated and has so many layers to it that the court system is going to be struggling on how to handle, pursue, and solve this case.
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