Whether Murder Trial will be in Adult or Juvenile Court Still Unknown
In the most recent developments of the murder case of 15-year-old Anne Kasprzak, Third District Juvenile Judge Dane Nolan heard final arguments on Monday, March 9, as to whether the unnamed male juvenile should be certified as an adult. It has already been decided that the teenager will stand trial for murder.
Many Questions of an Adult Murder Conviction
As has been previously reported, on March 11, 2012, after responding to reports of suspicious activity at a footbridge over the Jordan River, Draper Police responded and found a bloody shoe on the bridge. Two hours later, Search and Rescue recovered a body identified as that of 15-year-old Anne Kasprzak.
In October of 2014, police arrested a Colorado teen for the murder for Kasprzak. They believe the juvenile was living in Utah at the time of the murder and was Kasprzak’s boyfriend.
The teenager is now is 17 years old, and according to a report in KSL News, Kasprzak’s mother has said she believes the teen should be certified as an adult in the murder case, expressing the concern that if he is sentenced in the juvenile court system, he will be released when he turns 21.
“In the way that the medical examiner described the way she died, this wasn’t a one time, accidental, ‘I lost my temper,’ this was a brutal attack,” Veronica Kasprzak said. “And that’s a pretty adult decision to make … [T]he part that concerns me is he’ll be 18 in two months. And if it stays in the juvenile court system, in three years he gets to walk away. Annie didn’t get to walk away. She wasn’t given that opportunity.”
The juvenile’s father also spoke for the first time last week, calling his son “a typical 14-year-old boy” who wasn’t involved in gangs or showed any signs which might lead people to believe he could carry out the alleged beating and murder of Anne Kasprzak.
During last week’s testimony, medical experts and representatives from the Department of Corrections were called to the witness stand. Robert Powell, a deputy warden at the Utah State Prison, testified that there is currently only one inmate at the prison under the age of 18 and that juveniles were placed in “restrictive” housing away from the majority of the adult population; however under cross examination, it was revealed that this unit is actually the maximum security section of the prison reserved for violent offenders and some sexual predators.
On Monday, prosecutors continued with their assertion that given the brutal nature of the murder, the teenager shouldn’t be eligible for release back into the public in just three years [if sentenced in juvenile court]. The defense maintained that while brutal, the act was not premeditated and placing the juvenile in the adult prison system would only be more harmful to someone whom they believed should be considered a low risk for reoffending.
Judge Nolan is expected to make a decision whether to certify the juvenile as an adult in the murder case within one to two weeks.
