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This defense attorney supports a 14 year old who is over 6 feet tall and 175 pounds who punched a 40 year old man who was 106 pounds. The 40 year old man falls back and cracks his head on the pavement and dies.
The kid got out of a car to pick a fight with this frail person, and in the arguments, the attorney says ""He has a secure home to go to and is not a danger to himself or others."
Really? The kid killed someone and the attorney has the gall to say this?
FORT WORTH -- A 14-year-old admitted during a hearing Thursday that he caused a stranger's death by hitting him without provocation.
But the teen, who is not being identified because he is a juvenile, denied that he laughed about the assault as detectives questioned him after his arrest.
While the teen is accused of manslaughter, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, his attorney, John White, said he is confident that the teen will be released from detention after the next court session, sometime after Jan. 19.
"We're looking for a positive disposition because this is his first offense," White said. "He has no previous juvenile record or gang affiliation. He has a pretty good home."
The victim, Mark Gregory, 40, was walking toward a store south of Texas Wesleyan University on Oct. 6 when a blue Cadillac passed him, then turned around and went back, witnesses have said.
Witnesses said the teen yelled something to the effect of "What did you say to me?" and got out of the car.
One witness said he shouted at the teen that Gregory hadn't said anything to him and that the teen should leave Gregory alone.
But the witnesses said the teen -- who is over 6 feet tall and weighs about 175 pounds -- hit Gregory once in the mouth. Gregory, who was 5-foot-1 and weighed 106 pounds, fell and struck his head on the pavement in the 1700 block of Vaughn Boulevard. He died two days later at John Peter Smith Hospital.
Seated with his attorney in Judge Jean Boyd's 323rd District Court, the teen agreed that all other statements about the case read by Assistant District Attorney Brock Groom were true and said he didn't want a trial. He also left his punishment up to Boyd.
Boyd explained to the teen that he could be held in a Texas Youth Commission facility until he's 18, then sent to an adult prison for the rest of his term.
White called his client's actions reckless but unintentional and asked that the teen be allowed to stay at his mother's home -- where he is the oldest of about 10 children -- until he is sentenced.
"He is remorseful over the result of his actions," White said. "He has a secure home to go to and is not a danger to himself or others."
Boyd ordered that the teen, who has been in juvenile detention since his Oct. 27 arrest, remain in custody until she rules on his sentence.
White said he is optimistic that Boyd will consider other factors when deciding punishment.
The attorney said others share blame for his client's actions.
"He was with older folks who urged him on," White said. "The driver was 24, and there was a 16-year-old in the back seat. He'd known the driver for two months, and the 16-year-old was a guy he knew from the neighborhood."
Furthermore, White said, the victim was intoxicated, which may have contributed to the severity of his injury and meant the difference between simple assault and manslaughter.
"The autopsy report will show that Mr. Gregory had a blood-alcohol level of 0.17," he said. "Not to diminish that a life was lost, but it's a mitigating factor. If he was not intoxicated, we wouldn't be where we are."
White said that such circumstances shouldn't lead to more jail time for the 14-year-old, whom he described as a clean-cut eighth-grader with a positive future.
"We're hoping for something other than incarceration," he said. "He's not incarceration material, and that would only make a bad situation worse."
The medical examiner ruled Gregory's death a homicide, caused by a severe closed-head injury from blunt-force trauma, Groom said.
The kid got out of a car to pick a fight with this frail person, and in the arguments, the attorney says ""He has a secure home to go to and is not a danger to himself or others."
Really? The kid killed someone and the attorney has the gall to say this?
FORT WORTH -- A 14-year-old admitted during a hearing Thursday that he caused a stranger's death by hitting him without provocation.
But the teen, who is not being identified because he is a juvenile, denied that he laughed about the assault as detectives questioned him after his arrest.
While the teen is accused of manslaughter, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, his attorney, John White, said he is confident that the teen will be released from detention after the next court session, sometime after Jan. 19.
"We're looking for a positive disposition because this is his first offense," White said. "He has no previous juvenile record or gang affiliation. He has a pretty good home."
The victim, Mark Gregory, 40, was walking toward a store south of Texas Wesleyan University on Oct. 6 when a blue Cadillac passed him, then turned around and went back, witnesses have said.
Witnesses said the teen yelled something to the effect of "What did you say to me?" and got out of the car.
One witness said he shouted at the teen that Gregory hadn't said anything to him and that the teen should leave Gregory alone.
But the witnesses said the teen -- who is over 6 feet tall and weighs about 175 pounds -- hit Gregory once in the mouth. Gregory, who was 5-foot-1 and weighed 106 pounds, fell and struck his head on the pavement in the 1700 block of Vaughn Boulevard. He died two days later at John Peter Smith Hospital.
Seated with his attorney in Judge Jean Boyd's 323rd District Court, the teen agreed that all other statements about the case read by Assistant District Attorney Brock Groom were true and said he didn't want a trial. He also left his punishment up to Boyd.
Boyd explained to the teen that he could be held in a Texas Youth Commission facility until he's 18, then sent to an adult prison for the rest of his term.
White called his client's actions reckless but unintentional and asked that the teen be allowed to stay at his mother's home -- where he is the oldest of about 10 children -- until he is sentenced.
"He is remorseful over the result of his actions," White said. "He has a secure home to go to and is not a danger to himself or others."
Boyd ordered that the teen, who has been in juvenile detention since his Oct. 27 arrest, remain in custody until she rules on his sentence.
White said he is optimistic that Boyd will consider other factors when deciding punishment.
The attorney said others share blame for his client's actions.
"He was with older folks who urged him on," White said. "The driver was 24, and there was a 16-year-old in the back seat. He'd known the driver for two months, and the 16-year-old was a guy he knew from the neighborhood."
Furthermore, White said, the victim was intoxicated, which may have contributed to the severity of his injury and meant the difference between simple assault and manslaughter.
"The autopsy report will show that Mr. Gregory had a blood-alcohol level of 0.17," he said. "Not to diminish that a life was lost, but it's a mitigating factor. If he was not intoxicated, we wouldn't be where we are."
White said that such circumstances shouldn't lead to more jail time for the 14-year-old, whom he described as a clean-cut eighth-grader with a positive future.
"We're hoping for something other than incarceration," he said. "He's not incarceration material, and that would only make a bad situation worse."
The medical examiner ruled Gregory's death a homicide, caused by a severe closed-head injury from blunt-force trauma, Groom said.
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