Boys accused of violent robbery on bus may not be tried

By Jennifer Sullivan
Seattle Times staff reporter

Two young boys accused of a violent robbery aboard a Metro Transit bus two months ago remain jailed — although it's still unclear whether either will face prosecution.

Because the boys are 10 and 11, King County prosecutors have to prove in court that they have the intellectual, moral and psychological development to fully understand the crime they're accused of committing. Before that determination can be made, their defense attorneys are collecting evidence, including having the boys meet with mental-health professionals, aimed at proving they are too young to be prosecuted.

"At some age, people become old enough psychologically, intellectually, morally. At some point they understand right from wrong," said Dennis L. McGuire, who is representing the 10-year-old.

Under state law, a child between the ages of 8 and 11 is presumed to be incapable of committing a crime unless a judge determines the youth has the "sufficient capacity to understand the act ... and to know that it was wrong."

The determination will be made by a judge after a court proceeding known as a mental-capacity hearing. If the judge determines that the child understands right from wrong, then the prosecution will continue.

McGuire declined to talk in detail about his client's awareness of the court proceedings. He would say only that "he's a normal 10-year-old. His level of sophistication is not that of an adult."

The boy is charged with first-degree attempted robbery in connection with the Aug. 17 attempted robbery aboard a Metro bus, in which he suffered a gunshot wound while wrestling with the alleged victim.

The boy also has been charged with second-degree robbery and intimidating a witness in connection with the theft of a bicycle June 24 in downtown Seattle and attempted second-degree robbery and second-degree robbery in connection with another incident aboard Metro on June 5.

McGuire said all three incidents will be addressed during the youth's mental-capacity hearing, scheduled for Dec. 2.

Seattle police say the boy is an accused gang member, who has been investigated 13 times since he was 8 for crimes that include theft, robbery with assault and robberies with a weapon.

The 11-year-old co-defendant will appear in court on Nov. 29 for his mental-capacity hearing, said King County Deputy Prosecutor Jennifer Worley.

Unlike the younger boy, the 11-year-old was briefly released from the Youth Service Center after the Aug. 17 bus incident because police and prosecutors needed more time to compile evidence, Worley said.

"It wasn't until later that we knew it was a group effort, a group plan," Worley said about the August incident.

While he was free, prosecutors say, the 11-year-old committed three new crimes involving thefts and the possession of stolen property. The boy has been charged in the cases.

The 11-year-old was arrested on Sept. 27 for failure to appear in court in connection with unrelated crimes from earlier in the year and has been in custody since, Worley said.

Both boys are accused in connection with a robbery aboard Metro on June 5. A man's fake diamond earring was stolen in this incident, police said. The 10-year-old's half-brothers also played a role in this crime, charging papers said.

In the Aug. 17 incident, police said, the 10-year-old confronted a 17-year-old boy aboard Metro's Route 7 bus and ordered the older boy to empty his pockets while three other boys, ages 12, 14 and 15, surrounded the 17-year-old. The 11-year-old told police that he was also aboard the bus, but busy paying his fare while the incident unfolded, charging papers said.

The 10-year-old allegedly unzipped a backpack the older boy had been carrying and reached inside. The older boy was afraid the younger boy was reaching for a gun in the backpack so he grabbed him in a bear hug. During the struggle a gunshot was fired from inside the backpack, wounding the younger boy, police said.

The older boy feared the other boys would reach for the gun so he grabbed the backpack and ran out of the bus, police said. He was assaulted by the other boys after he left the bus, police said.

Police interviewed the 17-year-old and later released him. Police searched the backpack and found a .22-caliber semi-automatic pistol.