Posted on 08/02/2005 9:04:05 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - An 11-year-old girl arrested on a deadly weapon charge for throwing a rock during a water balloon fight is scheduled to be tried Wednesday after talks between her attorney and prosecutors failed to produce a plea bargain.
Maribel Cuevas was arrested in April for throwing a two-pound rock at a neighborhood boy who had pelted her with a water balloon. The rock gashed the boy's forehead, and the girl spent five days in Fresno's juvenile hall and a month under house arrest after police said she resisted arrest and scratched an officer's arm.
Since then, the girl's behavior and law enforcement's response to it has become water cooler and editorial page staples far from Fresno. The girl's parents joined church leaders and the state chapter of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network in a vigil last week. They say the felony charge in no way matches her childish crime.
But Fresno's mayor and police chief say Maribel's case was handled appropriately, and that assault with a deadly weapon is the proper charge for an act that might have had fatal consequences.
Lisa Bennett, a legal assistant for defense attorney Richard Beshwate Jr., said last-minute efforts to avert a trial were fruitless. "Even though there may or may not be good offers, having her plead guilty to a crime is not acceptable," Bennett said Tuesday.
As a result, Maribel was scheduled to have a full trial beginning Wednesday morning in the Juvenile Delinquency Division of Fresno Superior Court. A court commissioner who specializes in family law, Kimberly Nystrom-Geist, will preside over the hearing, which was expected to last all day and include about 20 witnesses, Bennett said.
Alvin Harrell, the Fresno County assistant district attorney who supervises juvenile cases, said court rules prohibited him from discussing the case or even acknowledging the trial is happening. But in an unusual move for a case involving a minor, the trial will be open to the public.
Witnesses are expected to include Elijah Vang, the boy who was injured by Maribel and who has acknowledged throwing a water balloon at her; a teenage girl who was in the same yard as Maribel when the altercation took place; police officers; the emergency medical technicians who initially treated the boy; and relatives and neighbors of both children, according to Bennett.
The defense strategy will include showing that Maribel's action was provoked, and that she had been subject to harassment before, Bennett said. "This has occurred more than once so Maribel's reaction may have not been unwarranted," she said.
Maribel maintains she was playing on the sidewalk with her 6-year-old brother on April 29 when Elijah rode by on his bike with a half-dozen neighborhood boys, who splattered them with water balloons.
The girl threw a rock that police later described as "jagged" and measuring 5.5 inches by 3.75 inches and it hit Elijah on the head, opening a gash that required stitches. While she ran to find Elijah's parents, a neighbor called 911.
Elijah's family, which has since moved away, is testifying for the prosecution but is not expected to be a hostile witness for the defense, Bennett said, adding that his parents declined to press charges.
In a statement issued shortly after The Associated Press published a story about the case, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer defended his department's decision to arrest the girl and seek a felony charge.
"The simple fact is that we have an 11-year-old girl who struck a boy in the head with a jagged-edged, two-pound river rock, that required him to have stitches," Dyer said. "That is a felony, assault with a deadly weapon, and we are very fortunate that that act did not cause a more serious injury, even death."
Register all rock owners.
Never bring a water balloon to a rock fight.
Never bring a rock to a water-balloon fight!;)
Having her plead guilty to a crime is exactly the RIGHT thing to do.
She should be at least willing to understand and admit that she did something really, really, vicious and stupid.
Then, go a bit easy on her. But not till she and her parents have the light bulb thingy go off over their heads.
She sounds like a little wild child.
I know, I married one.
She didn't want to plead to a crime, which most likely would have been expunged from her record when she turns 18. So now she is going to be tried, quite possibly as an adult and even sent to juvinille detention. What a leftist will do for publicity is beyond comprehension.
Which is it--I'm so confused!
I guess the lesson is: no watersports.
I guess, someone that sends an individual to the hospital, by throwing a 2 pound rock into thier head is OK too.
She had been bullied & harassed.
Have no sympathy for punk bully boys bothering a girl first.
But mommy I was harrassed. booh hooh.
Sticks and stones, remember. I mean really a water balloon is harmless, a two pound rock could have caused dain bramage.
What is her crime? She was protecting herself and her brother.
If she was of legal age to carry a gun, and was being attacked by a group of boys, and shot one or more of her attackers...we would be applauding her for being an armed and protected citizen!
What gets me about these things is if it was Sharpton's (or just about anybodys) son who got smashed, then it's a horrible crime.
If it was Sharpton's (or just about anybodys) daughter who had chucked the rock, then it was just a misunderstood prank.
Nobody can step back anymore, and see things for what they are.
To do this whole thing right, they oughta bring the balloon chucking kid in there at the same time, charge him with malicious mischief or somesuch, then turn the focus on the girl.
But what about kids who throw tires from overpasses at passing cars?
The juvenile system in Fresno County is phenomenal. If she is sent to boot camp she will exit a mature, responsible young lady. An asset to society. Perhaps this is what she needs.
Her crime was assault, which could very well have turned into manslaughter.
I'm glad I never had to plead guilty to a crime for every stupid thing I ever did.
Their crack addicted parents should be shot.
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