Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 9, 1993 TAG: 9301090242
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
YOUTH FACES TRIAL AS ADULT IN SCHOOLYARD SHOOTING
A 17-year-old accused of sweeping a Roanoke schoolyard with gunfire, wounding one student and sending others diving for cover, will be tried as an adult.Circuit Judge Clifford Weckstein on Friday overturned an earlier decision that Michael J. Reynolds should be tried in juvenile court.
Reynolds now faces possible prison sentences for taking a gun on school property in September and using it to shoot an 18-year-old student in the hip.
In ordering an adult trial, Weckstein said he was taking into consideration not just the nature of the offense, but also Reynolds' prior record and his previous dealings with the juvenile court.
Defense attorneys had argued that Reynolds' prior record was minimal, and that keeping the case in juvenile court was the last chance to rehabilitate him.
Had he been tried as a juvenile, Reynolds would have faced a maximum punishment of confinement in a state learning center until his 21st birthday.
Although he now faces prison time, a Circuit Court judge could also elect to sentence him as a juvenile, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Alice Ekirch said.
Reynolds is accused of shooting Shawn Brown as he sat in the driver's seat of his car during an altercation Sept. 16 in the parking lot of Roanoke's Alternative Education Center. Witnesses have testified that Reynolds then chased Brown through the parking lot - still firing shots at him - and down a school hallway, while other students ran for cover.
One witness said Reynolds fired so many shots that he had to reload several times.
Earlier testimony has shown that Reynolds was not a student at the alternative education center, but that he went there looking to settle a grudge with Brown.
He faces trial on charges of malicious wounding, use of a firearm, shooting into an occupied vehicle and carrying a gun on school property. Reynolds also is charged with distribution of crack cocaine in an unrelated incident.
Brown, who was released from the hospital shortly after being shot, has said a dispute with Reynolds started weeks before the shooting when he caught him trying to steal a stereo.
Defense attorneys Richard Lawrence and Steve Milani, however, have contended that their client did not initiate the contacts and that he was trying to protect himself and other family members.
A judge in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court had ruled in November that Reynolds should be tried as a juvenile. Prosecutors appealed that decision to Circuit Court.
In Virginia, whether a juvenile 15 years or older is tried as an adult is determined by two factors: the seriousness of the crime and the youth's potential for treatment in the juvenile justice system.