Story by Ashley Traylor, Interim Editor-in-Chief
Straight-faced and emotionless with his hands-clasped, Gabriel Parker, the 16-year-old accused in the Marshall County High School shooting, sat in court Monday as his attorney, Tom Griffiths argued for his case to be transferred back to the juvenile court.
Parker was arraigned in circuit court on Feb. 16, where he was formally charged with two counts of murder and 14 counts of first degree assault.
During Monday’s hearing, Griffiths said he believed the juvenile court did not follow the proper procedure for Parker to be tried as an adult, and his constitutional rights were violated when he was transferred to circuit court.
“The juvenile law exists in order to protect kids, all kids, and there’s a reason for that,” Griffiths said. “The legislature in their wisdom has determined that people under the age of 18 should be treated differently. They passed an entire code to that effect, and that has been analyzed and upheld as a good thing, as a rational thing, the right thing to do in Kentucky and under the United States Constitution.”
The juvenile court considers certain factors when deciding to move a youthful offender to the adult court. These factors include, but are not limited to, the seriousness of the offense, if the offense is against persons, maturity of the juvenile, their prior criminal record and the best interest of the community.
When handling a juvenile case, Griffiths said the judge must consider a large amount of information, make detailed findings and examine the eight factors, but he said Parker’s case was rushed and the juvenile code was not followed.
“We had a hearing that was 25 minutes long, Judge,” Griffiths said to Judge Jamie Jameson during the hearing. “This is the worst thing that has happened in Marshall County in anyone’s memory. This is the case that has more focus in the news and in the mouths of every single person in this Commonwealth, and instead of a full hearing, examining all eight factors, instead of people going through what is required by the juvenile code, they rushed through it in 25 minutes. And of that, Judge, ten minutes is testimony from a single witness.”
In addition to the speedy juvenile court process, Griffiths argued the Automatic Transfer Statute, which allows for a child to be transferred to circuit court and tried as an adult with the finding of probable cause, is a “loophole that was created in order to bypass the juvenile code.”
Prosecutor Tom Ford “wholeheartedly disagreed” with Griffith’s arguments.
“The juvenile court also protects the public,” Ford said. “It protects victims. There is no constitutional right to be treated as a juvenile. The supreme court has made that abundantly clear. Gabe Parker has no constitutional right to go back to district court as a juvenile.”
Ford said the time frame of the preliminary hearing is irrelevant.
“[The defendant] made no motion to continue until the hearing itself, offered no witnesses, offered no evidence, sat completely still, has done nothing,” Ford said. “He has the right to stay silent, but his council offered nothing in their own case to rebut a cross examination of our witness. It doesn’t take more than ten minutes from the detective to find probable cause that Gabe Parker was over the age of 14, allegedly used a firearm and allegedly committed a felony.”
Ford also said the court only needs findings on two of the eight factors, and those two factors were the seriousness of the alleged offense and that the offense was committed against persons.
“There is no expert in the world that could come in and say that this was not a serious offense to murder two children and seriously injure many others,” Ford said.
He also refuted Griffiths’ statement that the automatic transfer statute is a loophole, rather the law.
Juveniles cannot be sentenced to the death penalty, and they cannot face life in prison without parole. Ford said because of this the next consequence Parker can face is the penalty of life in prison with the possibility of parole in 25 years. This is the same sentence that convicted Heath High School shooter, Michael Carneal received.
Judge Jamie Jameson recessed the hearing, giving the Attorney General’s office three weeks to respond to the hearing. A decision to move Parker back to the juvenile court or keep him in the circuit court will be made at a later time.
Parker is scheduled to be back in court on Aug. 3 at 1 p.m.