9-year-old’s hearing closed to the public

Bill Gang

Friday, April 11, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

The notorious case against alleged sidewalk vandal Jeremy Anderson took another twist when a seemingly routine court hearing on a motion to dismiss the charges was closed to the public.

It wasn't until legal issues had been decided Thursday that Juvenile Hearing Master Sylvia Beller opened the courtroom to hear media complaints about the closed-door proceedings.

She explained that the April 21 trial was being postponed as a result of the hearing, but did not specify her reasons for keeping the public out, which is allowable under Nevada law if it is "in the best interests of the child or the general public."

Family Court Administrator Christina Chandler said Beller is trying to "manage the case in a reasonable and controlled manner."

Chandler hinted that the hearing may have been aimed at reaching an agreeable resolution to the emotionally charged case.

"She wants to resolve the conflicts between the two sides," Chandler said of Beller.

If that was the intent, it didn't work, and Deputy District Attorney Frank Ponticello said Beller denied the motion to dismiss the criminal charges.

She will use the original trial date for a hearing on a motion by defense attorney Robert Kossack to declare that the 9-year-old defendant's confession was illegally obtained. That would likely result in charges being tossed out because there is little other evidence against the boy.

That hearing, Beller said, will be open to the public and is expected to include testimony from Metro Police Officer Frank Janise, who questioned the boy after he was pulled from his classroom on Dec. 9 at McMillan Elementary School.

As a result of his admission that he had scrawled his name and those of his friends along 348 feet of fresh concrete at a condominium construction site, Jeremy was arrested.

He was held for several hours, and his mother, Barbara Anderson, has complained that he was traumatized by being strip searched and housed with older youths at the county's juvenile detention center.

Those matters, she vowed, will be the subject of a civil rights lawsuit once the delinquency case is completed in Juvenile Court.

"Justice for Jeremy is going to continue," Anderson said.

She and Jeremy have received national press coverage over the Nov. 19 incident near Washington Avenue and Durango Drive -- the latest being this week's People magazine -- and she was critical of the closed hearing.

"What happened today was another example of a system that doesn't work for the public but works for itself," Anderson said after the court session.

"It's a kangaroo court, much like the police and district attorney's office."

On April 21, Beller will have to decide whether the boy's Miranda rights were violated when he was questioned without a parent present and confessed to writing on the new sidewalk. He said, however, that he had been given permission by a workman at the site.

Another issue is whether Jeremy was denied basic fairness when authorities didn't immediately call his mother.

Kossack said the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that there must be "extraordinary circumstances" when a young child is interviewed without a parent.

Yet another legal stumbling block raised by Kossack involves evidence that he contends has been withheld from him and has made it impossible to prepare his defense.

"The police conduct was outrageous," the defense attorney said, adding that even if the confession is allowed, the boy "didn't have the intent to commit a crime and is innocent."