Assault with deadly weapon: Girl hits boy with rock.

[javasaurus]

An eleven-year-old girl hit a boy in the head with a two-pound rock. She is being charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon. Thoughts?

Here's the article from WTOPnews.com

Comments

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

the problem with charging as a juvinile is that for the "protection" of the child, it all becomes hidden. as such, it serves no purpose as any sort of deterent or demonstration that such a crime will really be punished. only when charged as an adult does the rest of the community (and more importantly, the rest of the kids of the community *and their respective parents*) know that any such thing has happened. its not just "some kid", but its a kid with a name, with a family, with a potential perhaps now destroyed.

*maybe* it might be the thing to wake parents up and get them to actually be parents again...

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

More specific info:

From the article:
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - 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.

From a Free Maribel! web site:
Fresno, CA: On April 29th, Maribel was playing on the sidewalk with her 6-year-old brother and other younger children, when boys rode by on their bikes. They started teasing her, calling her names and hitting her with water balloons. TTThe 11-year-old girl threw a rock to defend herself as neighborhood boys pelted her, hitting one hard enough to make him bleed. The boy admitted to officers that he started the fight and was quickly released from the hospital after getting his head stitched up. The boy's family stated they did not want to press charges.


This brings two issues to my mind: First, the degree to which HOW a news item is reported can sway the reader; and second, the question of how far do we expect a reasonable child to go to protect themself from bullies?

[blueeowyn.livejournal.com]

I think both kids should be punished. I think the other boys involved in the ride-by should also be punished.

The original TOP article implies that there was a consensual water balloon fight going on and she added a rock. The other bit you quoted in a comment says that she was playing with some younger kids and the boys rode by on bikes, started teasing her and pelting her. That gives an entirely different slant to the matter.

I also think that calling a 2lb rock a 'lethal weapon' is going a bit far. As LongLostLars mentioned, rings could be considered weapons using that sort of logic. Does that mean that I should check my rings if we fly anywhere? What about my keys? They could be weapons (and have been in the past) although I doubt they are lethel. What about a pair of steel toed boots? Or a roll of masking tape (you could tie someone up and suffocate them with enough tape I suspect)? Or????

I think this is ZeroTolerance stupidity.

Other people's children...

[rionnkelly.livejournal.com]

I see this as being just one more bit of evidence that somethin's gotta give somewhere. People say this wouldn't happen if parents parented better. Parents might be able to parent better if the cost of supporting the life they want for their children weren't so expensive as to require both parents to work outside the home. The cost of living to support that life wouldn't be so high if people would just freakin' relax and not get so caught up in the competitivenes and acquisitiveness that seems to have been adopted by our culture.

Don't have any answers on how to make it better, just my observations.

[culfinriel.livejournal.com]

Um, I probably missed this somewhere, but, since when does stuff like this get the police called in? What happened to parents talking to their kids and to the other parents about what is and isn't ok behavior and thinking before you do something and learning how to develop some judgement, etc.? Does somebody seriously think putting an eleven year old in jail is going to benefit the child or society? And if this kid is being raised in an environment where violence is the norm, how is prison going to counter the influence that's already clearly had on her? As for resisting the police, she's eleven, she's scared and or angry, they're strangers and should have had her parents present (again, might have missed some of the details) and are probably not regarded as the good guys in this neighborhood. Please tell me that Mirandizing an eleven year old, regardless of language, is not seriously going to hold up in court if grown adults can get away with claiming not to have understood their rights. Besides, does being charged with a felony automatically make you an emancipated minor? If not, she can't legally be read her rights without her parents present, anyway. Don't they have to meet some kind of probable cause standard to imprison someone? Couldn't the police have just taken the kids home and spoken to both of their parents? I think I'll just stop now...