Columnist Jeff German: Wheels of justice grind to a halt

Friday, April 30, 2004 | 11:01 a.m.

She's a 17-year-old honor roll student who's ready to graduate from high school.

But as she stood Thursday before Family Court Judge William Voy, her blonde hair pulled back into a bun revealing her pretty face, she knew her graduation plans could be on hold.

She was in handcuffs and chains, wearing a standard blue jumpsuit issued by the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center, where she has been residing since her arrest Easter Sunday.

The teenager faces several charges stemming from an April 11 incident in Henderson in which she and a 17-year-old male friend who was carrying a handgun allegedly yelled obscenities at and threatened her former boyfriend, whom the girl's family said had been abusive to the teen.

The charges, which include threat to life and exhibiting a deadly weapon in a threatening manner, are serious. But something's not right about the way the Green Valley High School student, who has a 3.6 grade point average and no previous criminal record, has been forced to remain in custody as her graduation approaches.

One ranking school official described the girl as a "delightful, personable and outgoing young woman" who has a good future ahead of her.

In court Thursday, with her emotionally drained mother sitting an arm's length away, the teenager's defense lawyer, Mace Yampolsky, squared off with Deputy District Attorney Catherine Harris in a bid to persuade Voy to release the student to the custody of her mother and stepfather while the charges are being resolved. A Family Court hearing master previously had refused to release the girl because the charges involve a weapon.

"This has been awful," her mother said before heading into court. "I just want my daughter to come home."

The mother, who knows her daughter better than anyone, is convinced that this is merely a case of a young girl hanging around with the wrong person.

The mother doesn't understand why the system has been so slow to release her daughter while the charges are pending. She fears the time her daughter has spent at the detention center may cost the teenager an opportunity to graduate with her classmates.

Yampolsky said he's had an easier time obtaining the release of adult clients charged with far more serious crimes then the teenager.

As it turns out, because the high school student has a clean record, Harris wants to resolve the case without seeing the girl sentenced to any jail time. The prosecutor informed Voy Thursday that she intends to negotiate a plea bargain with Yampolsky in which she will recommend probation.

In the meantime, however, Harris said she's not comfortable recommending the teenager's release until she knows whether the Easter Sunday incident was simply an aberration in her character or something that might be repeated.

And that left Voy uncomfortable.

The judge said he was bothered by the fact that no one in the overburdened Family Court system had given the girl a routine psychological evaluation, which should have been done days ago to allay the prosecutor's concerns and get this honor roll student back to school. Someone dropped the ball.

Voy ordered juvenile authorities to do the evaluation and bring him the results by Tuesday. But that meant still another delay in the teenager's release.

And more tears for the teenager and her mother.

After getting a comforting hug from her mother, the sobbing student walked out of the courtroom in chains knowing she would be missing still more school -- and not knowing whether she would be graduating with her friends in June.