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Saturday, April 14, 2007

Ind. Courts - "Speedway High School Becomes Indiana Court of Appeals"

So reports David Barras of WISHTV 8:

SPEEDWAY, Ind. - Speedway High School students got a different kind of gift Friday. It was the gift of seeing a real life drama unfold right in front of them. A drama that will impact the future of a man who was sentenced to 28 years in prison, when he was a teenager.

Walking into the auditorium at Speedway High School Friday meant walking into the Indiana Court of Appeals. Appeals Court judges, Margret Robb, James Kirsch and Patrick Sullivan will decide whether or not to shorten the sentence of a man who pleaded guilty to several felony burglaries when he was a teenager.

"When Justin James was 16-years-old, probably younger than most of the children here in the audience today, he was sentenced to maximum consecutive sentences of 28 years," said defense counsel Stacy Uliana.

The defense and the prosecution each get 20 minutes to convince the judges.

"His story is a sad one, a frustrating one, but it is not one who deserves maximum consecutive sentences," Uliana said.

"Whose fault is his addiction?" a judge asked.

But the judges, interrupt often.

"The system has not failed Justin James. The failures that occur in this case were all on the part of James himself," said Deputy Attorney General Matt Fisher.

"But Mr. Fisher, in the 14 years that I've served on the court this is the first case I can remember, in which a non-violent juvenile defendant has been waived at 16 to adult court," said Judge James S. Kirsch.

And it is watching that kind of exchange that teacher Andre Young says is real learning.

"It's one thing to read about something in a book, but it's a much richer experience for young people especially, to see and actually feel a judicial proceeding," Young said.

Here is the Court's announcement of the oral argument.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 14, 2007 01:18 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts