Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2004 | 11:04 a.m.
A sentence handed down to a 16-year-old boy charged with killing his three friends in a drunken driving crash could help change laws that govern the treatment of juveniles who commit crimes in Nevada, court officials said Monday.
During a juvenile court hearing, Family Court Judge William Voy sentenced the Henderson teen to two years in the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center and 600 hours of community service for the Nov. 10 collision that killed 15-year-olds Travis Dunning, Josh Parry and Kyle Poff.
A fourth passenger, Cody Fredericks, was injured in the crash but survived. The sentence was the result of a plea agreement reached last week by prosecutors and defense attorneys.
Voy said he hoped the negotiation, the first of its kind for a juvenile in Nevada, would help highlight some of the shortfalls in the state's juvenile justice system.
"This case epitomizes the need in this state, particularly in this county, for blended sentencing and a youthful offenders program," Voy said. "I hope we will use this case as an example of why we need change."
A blended sentencing system would allow juvenile offenders to start out in the juvenile system and potentially be transferred into the adult system when they reach 18.
Voy said the state also needs a facility that would house juveniles between the ages of 16 and 21 for extended periods. The judge said he hoped both issues would be addressed during the 2005 Legislature.
The sentence came during an emotional hearing in which family members of the victims packed the courtroom wearing buttons with the teens' pictures on them. Several family members gave passionate statements to the court.
The driver, flanked by his parents and his lawyer, Andy Leavitt, also made a tearful plea for forgiveness.
"The night of the incident I used very poor judgment," he said, turning toward the family members and sobbing. "I chose to drink and drive and now my three best friends are gone."
The teen pleaded guilty to four counts of felony DUI and reckless driving causing death or substantial bodily harm. Three additional counts of involuntary manslaughter will be dismissed if the teen successfully completes his probation.
According to the negotiations, the teen will have no chance at early release and he will remain on probation until he is 21 years old. He cannot apply for a driver's license until he is 21.
The sentence also will require him to make presentations to local high school students dressed in jail garb about the dangers of drinking and driving. If he does not successfully complete his probation, he will return before Voy for a hearing in which he could be certified to stand trial as an adult.
Court officials who had a hand in the plea agreement said the deal was the best option considering the limitations of Nevada's current system for punishing juvenile offenders.
"The negotiation tries to make a broken system work," said Deputy District Attorney Jonathan VanBoskerck, who handled the case.
Most youths who are sentenced in the juvenile system spend only six to nine months at a juvenile detention facility, he said. The short stay has to do primarily with the shortage of bed space at those facilities.
"These facilities have more in common with summer camp than boot camp," VanBoskerck said.
District Attorney David Roger said the plea deal and sentence were the first of their kind in the juvenile system in Nevada.
"This negotiation is the first time a person has been sentenced to this type of punishment," he said. "This was a unique situation. Our goal was to obtain a mixture of punishment and rehabilitation in fashioning the sentence."
There have been few cases in Nevada which juveniles were charged with drunken driving deaths.
In a 1991 Nevada Supreme Court case, the high court ruled that a 17-year-old boy should be certified as an adult after he drove with drugs and alcohol in his system, rear-ended a car and killed two people
The teen's defense attorneys had argued that while the crimes were serious, they were not willful and intentional. In their ruling, however, the justices stressed the need to hold juveniles accountable for their criminal misdeeds.
Roger said he was not sure if the case of the Henderson teen would set a precedent for the way Nevada deals with juveniles, saying each case must be looked at individually.
He added, though, that the case "highlighted some of the shortcomings of our system."
"We have limited detention facilities in which to house people who should serve significant sentences," he said.
Sandy Heverly, president of Stop DUI who attended the hearing, said she also supports blended sentencing and favors a facility for convicted juveniles.
She said she plans to meet with Voy and Kirby Burgess, director of the county's Department of Juvenile Justice Services, to draft suggestions to present to the 2005 Legislature.
Monday's sentencing brought to an end a case that revived debate about the state's treatment of juvenile offenders. Prosecutors had initially asked Voy to transfer the case to the adult system, saying they needed to make an example out of the teen. Their push to certify the teen as an adult sparked some public outrage.
Prosecutors on Monday maintained that they had not weakened their stance that drunken driving would not be tolerated in Clark County.
"We sent a clear message: You drink, you drive, you kill, you lose your freedom," VanBoskerck said. "This plea agreement offers accountability."
Outside court, the victims' parents who had spoken passionately during the hearing expressed hope that the Henderson teen could one day get his life in order.
"I feel it was a fair decision," said Rick Poff, father of Kyle Poff. The driver who killed his son "is sorry. But he needs this time to do the things to help himself and allow all of us to go through the grieving process.
"None of us wanted to see him go through the adult system."
Poff said he was torn because he had treated the teen like a son, noting the boy once went on a weeklong vacation with the Poffs.
Charlene Poff, who had planned to speak at the hearing and ask the judge not to accept the district attorney's plea offer, said she changed her mind at the last minute and opted instead to remain silent.
James Dunning, Travis Dunning's father, said after the hearing that he got no "closure" from the sentencing.
"I hope the 730 days he spends in juvenile detention will rehabilitate him," he said.
Dunning said he would crusade for legislation for a graduated driver's license law for youths. It would require 16-year-old licensed drivers to drive solo or with adults for six months before they are allowed to transport children and other minors.
Authorities say the teen's blood alcohol level was 0.19 when he was driving his 1995 Pontiac Grand Am 80 mph in a 25-mph zone and he crashed into a brick wall on Silver Springs Drive.
"Each and every victim asked him repeatedly to slow down," VanBoskerck said.
During his brief statement on Monday, the driver said he had no recollection of the crash. He said he is still haunted by the memories of his three best friends.
"I wake up every night sweating with nightmares," he told the family members, bawling so heavily that some of his words were unintelligible. "I loved your sons. We were like brothers. I'm so sorry. Forgive me."
But some family members of the victims said there had been warning signs that the teen's driving was reckless and out of control.
In the months leading up to the crash, neighbors and friends who saw the teen driving recklessly had asked the teen to slow down, according to statements made to the judge Monday.
The teen sentenced Monday had gotten his license just 63 days before the fatal accident but was involved in an auto accident about three weeks before the fatal crash and had driven so recklessly on one occasion that two teenage girls refused to again be in a car with him behind the wheel.
"Lucky them," James Dunning said, regarding the teen girls.
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