PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AFP) – US appeals judges Tuesday began considering whether a 13-year-old boy accused of murder could be tried as an adult -- and risk spending the rest of his life behind bars.
The Pennsylvania Superior Court was considering a case that has attracted international scrutiny because of the possibility that Jordan Brown, who was just 11 at the time of his alleged crime, might be imprisoned as an adult and never be released.
The three-judge panel queried lawyers about the decision by a lower court to bar Brown from being sent to a juvenile court.
A key requirement of the juvenile court would be for Brown to show potential for rehabilitation, in which case he could be free as early as when he turned 21.
However, the lower court found against him after insisting that he show remorse -- something his lawyers say he can't do, given that he insists he did not commit the murder.
On Tuesday, defense lawyers argued that the lower court had violated Brown's Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. Appeals judges said this was the key issue to consider.
"The bottom line is, from my viewpoint: were his Fifth Amendment rights violated because of the way the trial court handled these proceedings?" Superior Court Judge Cheryl Allen asked a prosecution lawyer.
But Christopher Carusone, Pennsylvania's chief deputy attorney general, said no one had tried to force a guilty plea on the boy.
"It was not used to determine guilt, because we're not there yet," he said, pointing out that the case hasn't gone to trial.
Brown was just 11, a chubby schoolboy, when he allegedly shot Kenzie Houk, then eight months pregnant, in the back of the head in February 2009 in her rural home northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Prosecutors allege that the boy waited until his father left for work that Friday morning before entering Houk's bedroom and shooting her with a 20-gage shotgun.
After that, prosecutors say, he went to school, dropping the spent cartridge outside and leaving Houk's daughter, aged four, to discover the grisly scene.
Last year, a local judge ruled that Brown should stand trial as an adult for what is being considered the double murder of Houk and her near full-term baby son.
In the two years since the crime, Brown has been in custody and the case has drawn attention to how children are handled in the American criminal justice system.
Human rights group Amnesty International has campaigned to overturn the lower court judge's ruling, saying it is "deeply disturbed" by the fact that, if convicted, Brown would never be free again.
However, under Pennsylvania law, a serious crime like a homicide is initially filed in criminal court unless the defense can make a case for sending it to the juvenile system.
Wearing jewel-studded lockets bearing the image of their murdered daughter, Houk's parents said that they believe Brown should spend the rest of his life in prison.
"It's just like an alcoholic, how can you be rehabilitated if you don't know if you have a problem?" Deborah Houk, Kenzie's mother, told reporters.
While the family wants to see justice served, it is also growing weary of the long appeals process. There is no deadline for the Superior Court panel to make its ruling.
"This could go on and on," said Jack Houk, Kenzie's father, before revealing a tattoo on his wrist bearing the name of his daughter surrounded by elaborate decorations.
The Pennsylvania Superior Court was considering a case that has attracted international scrutiny because of the possibility that Jordan Brown, who was just 11 at the time of his alleged crime, might be imprisoned as an adult and never be released.
The three-judge panel queried lawyers about the decision by a lower court to bar Brown from being sent to a juvenile court.
A key requirement of the juvenile court would be for Brown to show potential for rehabilitation, in which case he could be free as early as when he turned 21.
However, the lower court found against him after insisting that he show remorse -- something his lawyers say he can't do, given that he insists he did not commit the murder.
On Tuesday, defense lawyers argued that the lower court had violated Brown's Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. Appeals judges said this was the key issue to consider.
"The bottom line is, from my viewpoint: were his Fifth Amendment rights violated because of the way the trial court handled these proceedings?" Superior Court Judge Cheryl Allen asked a prosecution lawyer.
But Christopher Carusone, Pennsylvania's chief deputy attorney general, said no one had tried to force a guilty plea on the boy.
"It was not used to determine guilt, because we're not there yet," he said, pointing out that the case hasn't gone to trial.
Brown was just 11, a chubby schoolboy, when he allegedly shot Kenzie Houk, then eight months pregnant, in the back of the head in February 2009 in her rural home northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Prosecutors allege that the boy waited until his father left for work that Friday morning before entering Houk's bedroom and shooting her with a 20-gage shotgun.
After that, prosecutors say, he went to school, dropping the spent cartridge outside and leaving Houk's daughter, aged four, to discover the grisly scene.
Last year, a local judge ruled that Brown should stand trial as an adult for what is being considered the double murder of Houk and her near full-term baby son.
In the two years since the crime, Brown has been in custody and the case has drawn attention to how children are handled in the American criminal justice system.
Human rights group Amnesty International has campaigned to overturn the lower court judge's ruling, saying it is "deeply disturbed" by the fact that, if convicted, Brown would never be free again.
However, under Pennsylvania law, a serious crime like a homicide is initially filed in criminal court unless the defense can make a case for sending it to the juvenile system.
Wearing jewel-studded lockets bearing the image of their murdered daughter, Houk's parents said that they believe Brown should spend the rest of his life in prison.
"It's just like an alcoholic, how can you be rehabilitated if you don't know if you have a problem?" Deborah Houk, Kenzie's mother, told reporters.
While the family wants to see justice served, it is also growing weary of the long appeals process. There is no deadline for the Superior Court panel to make its ruling.
"This could go on and on," said Jack Houk, Kenzie's father, before revealing a tattoo on his wrist bearing the name of his daughter surrounded by elaborate decorations.
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