The premise of a juvenile facing prosecution for murder is rare by most accounts, but it is not unheard of.
Cases involving persons under the age of 18 are treated differently than an adult court prosecution, according to Shelly Orio, Communications and Media Officer with the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office.
“As mandated by the legislature, the primary goal of juvenile court proceedings is the rehabilitation of youth, while maintaining both the safety of the youth and safety of the public,” said Orio in an email.
“In Juvenile Court, when the charge is murder, members of the public shall be admitted to juvenile court proceedings on the same basis as they may be admitted to trials in adult criminal court,” Orio added. “The name of a minor found to have committed murder shall not be confidential, unless the court finds good cause and orders it so.”
Despite their rarity, California still sees this occurrence reflected in crime statistics and charges brought forward by the District Attorney's office.
1. California's juvenile arrests for murder are below 100 for 2017
In 2017, 98 juveniles were arrested for homicide in California. In terms of violent felony arrests, the number is far lower than figures for rape, robbery, and assault.
Ninety-two out of the 98 arrests were males, and 90 of those arrests involved juveniles who were between the age of 15 to 17. The other eight arrests were of juveniles between 12 and 14.
The number is an increase over the prior years when juvenile arrests for murders were at 91 in 2016 and 88 in 2015.
2. San Joaquin County's juvenile arrest rates for murder are 4 per 100,000 for 2014
Assistant Public Defender Vickie Delph for San Joaquin County says that if the district attorney’s office has the evidence to go with a prosecution, it will happen, however, a situation where a child as young as 13 is prosecuted is considered rare.
“It’s very rare that a child at the age of 13 would find themselves in such circumstances,” said Delph.
According to data from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the highest arrest rate for juveniles in San Joaquin County for murder was 12 per 100,000 juveniles age 10 to 17 in both 2010 and 2012.
The most recent date available shows San Joaquin County at homicide rate of 4 per 100,000 for 2014. Statistics from the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office were not readily available for recent years.
3. Sacramento County's DA office has filed 9 murder charges against juveniles since 2017
Even in a large county like Sacramento, the situation is not considered common, and, even though hard statistics were not readily available, David Klemer, Supervising Assistant Public Defender for the Sacramento County Public Defender's Office, estimated that between five and 10 cases a year would come across the desk.
“It’s definitely rare,” said Klemer.
Klemer added that children typically have a lot of protection under the law in comparison to an adult case. According to Orio, the District Attorney’s office has filed murder charges against nine juveniles since the beginning of 2017 to 2018, thus far. The separate totals for 2017 and 2018 were not immediately available.
In 2014 data, the most recent available, from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Sacramento County had a juvenile arrest rate of 5 per 100,000 for murder. Since 2008, the highest rate recorded was 10 per 100,000 in 2010.