Twelve Year-Old May Be Tried As An Adult In Murder Case
A Pennsylvania prosecutor is reportedly struggling with how to charge a boy suspected of murdering his pregnant stepmother when he was eleven. The woman was apparently shot in her own home last February, and investigators began to suspect the boy of being shooter when their investigation revealed no signs of forced entry or burglary. Authorities reportedly believe that the boy was jealous of his stepmother and the other children that had moved into the house with her, as well as the child that was on the way. Detectives apparently found gunshot residue on the boy’s clothing and his shotgun seemed to have been recently fired and looked to have burned a hole in a blanket that was covering it. The boy’s family, however, disputes these conclusions and says that his clothes would likely have gunshot residue anyway because he hunted frequently.
The boy has been in juvenile lockup for nearly a year while the prosecutor tries to decide how to charge him. Pennsylvania law apparently forces the prosecutor to either charge the boy as an adult or not charge him at all. Tennessee criminal law is much different in that it gives the prosecutor more leeway as to how to charge the suspect.
Any person who is under seven years of age in Tennessee is conclusively presumed to not be accountable for their actions. This applies regardless of the offense and is not an absolute rule. Persons between the ages of seven and fourteen are presumed to be incapable of committing a crime, but that presumption can be overcome if the circumstances show that the offender was clearly able to distinguish between good and evil at the time of the offense.
A person above the age of fourteen is considered capable of distinguishing between right and wrong unless the circumstances indicate otherwise. Between the ages of seven and eighteen, any offender who is charged with a crime will be handled by the juvenile court system unless they are transferred to a criminal court and tried as an adult. For the consequences of being tried as an adult rather than a juvenile, see our previous blog on the topic.
Source: http://www.truecrimereport.com/2010/02/jordan_brown_12_may_be_tried_a.php
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