Juvenile Injustice: Prosecutors struggle to get juveniles charged as adults
By T.J. Wilham
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KOAT) — Most of the time, a juvenile must have committed first-degree murder in order to be charged as an adult in New Mexico, according to data obtained by Target 7
In fact, out of the 40 juveniles charged as adults in the past 2 1/2 years in Bernalillo County, all but one were facing first-degree murder charges.
This comes as police, prosecutors and advocates are calling for the state legislature to make more than 30 changes to laws that govern juvenile crime in the wake of what they are calling an epidemic in juvenile violence. What’s called the children’s code has not been updated in 30 years.
A Target 7 Investigation has revealed that New Mexico ranks first in the nation per capita for kids aged 10-19 to be murdered.
“I have over 50 juveniles since I’ve been DA, two and a half years, over 50 juveniles charged with murder involving 70 different murders,” said Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman. “Seventy people in our county alone are dead because of juvenile crime. I don’t think anybody in their right mind would think that that’s acceptable.”
Not every juvenile charged with murder was facing adult penalties. Others who were charged with lesser degree murders stayed in the juvenile justice system.
It’s not that Bregman hasn’t tried to put these kids in the adult system.
For all other crimes like second-degree murder, rape, robbery, the law in New Mexico requires prosecutors to go before a judge and prove they are they are amenable to treatment.
“Are we safer when we know that a 17-year-old just went out and killed somebody, and is going to be out when they’re 21 for the rest of their life? What are we saying as far as the safety of our community?” Bregman asked.
KOAT legal expert John Day says the laws in New Mexico are more focused on rehabilitation.
“The focus is on the amenability of a child who is engaged in the justice system to get help so they don’t become an adult offender,” Day said. “Children are still children. They’re still developmentally different than adults. Their brains are different. Their ability to make good judgment calls is different. So, it’s a battle between two positions on juvenile crime.”
Once in the past five years, a judge in Bernalillo County has ruled the juvenile could not be treated and therefore could be tried as an adult.
That case involved a man who was 17 at the time when he carjacked and shot another man, paralyzing him.
“We wouldn’t put up with it if there were our own kids at the dinner table hitting each other,” Bregman said. “Why do we put up when it’s the most violent juveniles out there killing people?”
In New Mexico, kids charged with higher-level crimes like rape, robbery and second-degree murder can be charged as what’s called “youthful offenders.”
That means they can be prosecuted as adults, with a judge’s approval. On the other hand, only kids who commit first-degree murder are considered serious youthful offenders, meaning the district attorney must charge them as adults without the blessing of a judge.
And that is only if they are 14 years old or older.
“If you’re a kid 15 years of age and you commit vehicular homicide or voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter, someone dies. Leaving the scene of an accident with great bodily harm, someone’s tremendously hurt. Under the current juvenile code, the most you’re going to face as far as a penalty is the same as if you had shoplifted a pack of bubblegum,” Bregman said.
But not everyone agrees.
“I am in favor of accountability, but accountability for a child looks different than accountability for an adult,” said Chief Public Defender Bennett Baur. “Simply punishments, simply incarceration. Simply focusing on that, rather than getting to the core problem, is not going to address the issue.”
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