14 year old to be tried as juvenile

Blaize Teague, the 14-year-old Corn youth charged with murdering the mother of one of his former friends, will be bound over for trial but as a youthful offender rather than an adult, Associate District Judge Jill Weedon ruled in a written order issued Tuesday afternoon.
Teague’s attorneys, Michael and Rebecca Beason of Altus, had filed a motion asking that their client be certified as a child or in the alternative as a youthful offender. Judge Weedon chose the latter.
She certified him as a youthful offender, which potentially carries a much lesser punishment, and ordered him bound over for trial on the original charges of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Tammi Thomas, 36, of Cordell; of shooting with intent to kill in the wounding of Ms. Thomas’ 14-year-old son, Christian Thomas; and of first-degree burglary for allegedly breaking into their home just before they were shot last July 20. No date has been set yet for the trial; District Judge Doug Haught presumably will do that.
As an adult, Teague could have been sentenced to life in prison if found guilty of the murder. As a youthful offender, Judge Weedon’s order said that if he’s found guilty at trial, he would be committed to the Office of Juvenile Affairs until the expiration of whatever sentence he received, until discharged by the court, or until he reaches age 18, whichever occurs first.
OJA could place him in a secure facility or other OJA facility, she wrote; it could place him in a group home or other OJA facility; or it could place him under community supervision. The latter would require court approval.
OJA would be required to prepare a written rehabilitation plan for him stating objectives, plus services and programs it would provide.
A youthful offender case must be reviewed annually by the judge. The judge may transfer him to the Department of Corrections if the court determines he has done any one of the following:
• After certification, seriously injured or endangered another person via violent behavior;
• Escaped from a facility;
• Committed a new felony crime;
• Committed assault and battery on an employee of any juvenile facility while in the custody of the facility;
• Caused disruption in the facility, smuggled contraband into it or caused others to smuggle contraband in, or engaged in other behavior which endangers the life or health of other residents or staff; or
• “Established a pattern of disruptive behavior not conducive to the established policies and procedures of the program.”
If Teague turns 18 prior to expiration of his sentence, Judge Weedon said he would be returned to the court that sentenced him which could do any of the following: Return him to OJA until he reaches age 18 years and 5 months, the extra time to allow completion of treatment; place him in DOC custody for completion of his sentence; place him on DOC probation; or discharge him from custody.
During the hearing District Attorney Angela Marsee and/or her staff raised concerns that one of Teague’s alleged victims, Christian Thomas, would not be safe if he were not behind bars in the adult system.
“This is a valid concern,” the judge wrote. However, she indicated she is not convinced that the public, including Teague, would be adequately protected if the accused were processed through the regular juvenile system. She indicated she feels the Youthful Offender System does offer sufficient safeguards for the public, and specifically the Thomas boy and his 8-year-old brother, who also was in the house when the shootings occurred but was not injured.
Judge Weedon wrote that in deciding whether to certify a “child” as a juvenile offender, Oklahoma law lists seven issues that should be considered. They are:
Whether the alleged offense was committed “in an aggressive, violent, premeditated or willful manner.” She added: “Testimony at preliminary hearing describes a violent, premeditated, and willful crime in which one child enters another family’s home in disguise, under cover of darkness, armed with a weapon that he had acquired the week before, and stalks and then attacks a mother and her 14-year-old child. The shooter fires multiple times as the mother and child cower in their own home. The crime was premeditated and carried out in a manner to avoid detection.”
Whether the offense was against persons, and, if personal injury resulted, the degree of personal injury.
The record and past history of the accused person, including previous contacts with law enforcement agencies and juvenile or criminal courts, prior periods of probation, and commitments to juvenile institutions.
The sophistication and maturity of the accused person and the capability of distinguishing right from wrong. On this issue, Judge Weedon said testing had indicated Teague was in the high average range for intellectual functioning and a counselor who testified said he had strength in math computation skills, scoring in the 98th percentile on a math computation test. In light of the testing scores, she said his scholastic performance has been much lower than one would expect, as he was failing all classes at Cordell Junior High School except athletics and agriculture. But in detention (apparently at the Beckham County Juvenile Center where he was moved in early September), Weedon said he has a B average in all classes. On this issue she concluded: “Overall, it appears that BT is of above average intelligence and can distinguish right from wrong. BT is immature for his age and lacks insight into his own behavior, is impulsive, violent, isolates himself, and has an unstable home.”
The prospects for adequate protection of the public if the accused person is processed through the youthful offender system or the juvenile system.
The reasonable likelihood of rehabilitation of the accused person if the person is found to have committed the alleged offense, by the use of procedures and facilities currently available to the juvenile court.
Whether the offense occurred while the accused person was escaping or on escape status from an institution for youthful offenders or juvenile delinquents.
Judge Weedon concluded: “The Court has considered all seven of the elements set out above, with greatest weight given to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3. The charged crimes are violent, and this ruling in no way diminishes the seriousness of the crime or the impact it has had on the victims, the victims’ family, and the community. The defendant in this case is very young, and yet intelligent. He claims to have mental health issues. There is no question that he has impulse control issues, a very poor stress response, and shows traits associated with psychopathy. If this 14-year-old is convicted, and can be rehabilitated, it should be done. If he cannot be rehabilitated, he should go to prison for a very long time. The Youthful Offender procedure as described above allows an opportunity for rehabilitation with the safety net of bridging to the adult system if the offender cannot or will not change. The court denies the motion to certify as a juvenile, but finds that Blaize Claude Eugene Teague should be certified as a youthful offender.”
Weedon ordered him to continue being held in the Beckham County Detention Center pending his trial. She said his attorneys will have 10 days from the date her order was issued to appeal, if they so desire.