Thursday, May 06, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Deal sends teen's case to juvenile court

For the second time in a week, a teen charged with murder has agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter in a deal that sends his case back to juvenile court.

Authorities said Rocky Mendoza, 15, accidentally killed his 14-year-old sister, Erica, in March when he pointed a gun at the girl and the weapon discharged.

"They were pretending they were in a soap opera," said Mendoza's attorney, Clark County Public Defender Phil Kohn.

Prosecutors originally charged Mendoza with second-degree murder in the adult system. The decision meant Mendoza ended up being housed in the Clark County Detention Center with adult offenders, and he faced a potential life sentence in the adult prison system if convicted of the murder charge.

But on Wednesday in the courtroom of Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Douglas Smith, Clark County prosecutors announced a plea agreement had been reached. Under the terms of the deal, Mendoza's case will be sent back to juvenile court.

Today, Mendoza is expected to appear before Family Court Judge William Voy to make an admission of guilt to involuntary manslaughter.

"We are always going to do the fair thing, keeping in mind this is a juvenile," said Clark County prosecutor Christopher Owens.

The remanding of the case to the juvenile justice system means Mendoza will face far less exposure regarding punishment. Kohn said that under the law, he faces a sentence ranging from probation to detention at a state youth camp until he is 20.

The Mendoza plea agreement mirrors the case of teen Jake Reeder. The 15-year-old was charged in April with murder in the accidental shooting of his friend Dustin Osborn, while they played with a loaded handgun.

This week, Reeder also entered into a plea agreement to manslaughter, and his case was sent from the adult system to juvenile court.

The two cases exemplify the dilemma Clark County authorities face in trying to determine what punishment is appropriate for teens who commit violent offenses. The issue came to a head in Southern Nevada earlier this year in the case of Sean Larimer, who killed three teens in a drunken driving crash.

Larimer was drunk and speeding when he killed the three boys, and there was evidence that Larimer repeatedly had been warned about his dangerous driving habits.

Prosecutors originally sought to handle the case in the adult system. That decision prompted a high-profile lobbying effort by a group known as Moms on a Mission, who sought to have the Larimer case sent to juvenile court.

In a plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to send the Larimer case to juvenile court, and in an unusually strict sentence for juvenile court, he was sentenced to two years detention in a juvenile jail.

Under Nevada law, a teen who commits an act of murder is automatically certified as an adult. This means prosecutors have no discretion in prosecuting the case in juvenile court versus the adult court.

But in some instances, the line between murder and manslaughter isn't well-defined. And, authorities long have complained that the juvenile justice system isn't well-equipped to punish teens who commit dangerous felonies. Often, the most severe punishment an offender will face in juvenile court is a year or less at juvenile youth camps.

After the Larimer case was resolved, some prosecutors called for the Legislature to fine-tune the juvenile justice system. Some have suggested giving judges more power to impose stricter sentences against teens in the juvenile system, while others have advocated the building of incarceration facilities specifically aimed at juveniles.

Clark County District Attorney David Roger said there are no easy answers, and in the meantime, he said his office will assess each case on an individual basis.

He said he stands by the decision to originally charge Mendoza and Reeder as adults. He said state law dictates a murder charge is warranted when a death results from someone deliberately pointing a gun at another.

"You have to be consistent in charging individuals," Roger said.