BATMAN
08-03-2005, 10:45 AM
Advocates for an 11-year-old girl who was arrested on a deadly weapon charge for throwing a 2-pound rock during a water balloon fight say the charge in no way fits the crime.
But Fresno's mayor and police chief say Maribel Cuevas's case was handled appropriately, and that assault with a deadly weapon is the proper charge for an act that might have had fatal consequences.
The case was to go to trial Wednesday in the Juvenile Delinquency Division of Fresno Superior Court. In an unusual move for a case involving a minor, the trial will be open to the public.
Maribel was arrested in April for throwing the rock at a neighborhood boy who had pelted her with a water balloon. The rock gashed the boy's forehead, and the girl spent five days in Fresno's juvenile hall and a month under house arrest after police said she resisted arrest and scratched an officer's arm.
Lisa Bennett, a legal assistant for defense attorney Richard Beshwate Jr., said efforts to avert a trial were fruitless. "Even though there may or may not be good offers, having her plead guilty to a crime is not acceptable," Bennett said Tuesday.
Alvin Harrell, the Fresno County assistant district attorney who supervises juvenile cases, said court rules prohibited him from commenting.
In a statement issued shortly after The Associated Press published a story about the case, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer defended his department's actions.
"The simple fact is that we have an 11-year-old girl who struck a boy in the head with a jagged-edged, two-pound river rock, that required him to have stitches," Dyer said. "That is a felony, assault with a deadly weapon, and we are very fortunate that that act did not cause a more serious injury, even death."
Elijah Vang, the boy who was injured by Maribel and who has acknowledged throwing a water balloon at her, was expected to testify at the trial.
But Fresno's mayor and police chief say Maribel Cuevas's case was handled appropriately, and that assault with a deadly weapon is the proper charge for an act that might have had fatal consequences.
The case was to go to trial Wednesday in the Juvenile Delinquency Division of Fresno Superior Court. In an unusual move for a case involving a minor, the trial will be open to the public.
Maribel was arrested in April for throwing the rock at a neighborhood boy who had pelted her with a water balloon. The rock gashed the boy's forehead, and the girl spent five days in Fresno's juvenile hall and a month under house arrest after police said she resisted arrest and scratched an officer's arm.
Lisa Bennett, a legal assistant for defense attorney Richard Beshwate Jr., said efforts to avert a trial were fruitless. "Even though there may or may not be good offers, having her plead guilty to a crime is not acceptable," Bennett said Tuesday.
Alvin Harrell, the Fresno County assistant district attorney who supervises juvenile cases, said court rules prohibited him from commenting.
In a statement issued shortly after The Associated Press published a story about the case, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer defended his department's actions.
"The simple fact is that we have an 11-year-old girl who struck a boy in the head with a jagged-edged, two-pound river rock, that required him to have stitches," Dyer said. "That is a felony, assault with a deadly weapon, and we are very fortunate that that act did not cause a more serious injury, even death."
Elijah Vang, the boy who was injured by Maribel and who has acknowledged throwing a water balloon at her, was expected to testify at the trial.