Juvenile Court

Teen boy admits to assaulting girl A 13-year-old boy admitted Wednesday in Washington County juvenile court to second-degree assault for throwing soda on a girl in July. Circuit Judge Frederick C. Wright III, sitting in juvenile court, delayed the youth's disposition and ordered the youth serve community detention pending his November disposition. On July 27 at about 8:20 a.m., a 12-year-old girl walking in Ridge Avenue Park was approached by the boy who later "grabbed a soda and threw it at her," Washington County Assistant State's Attorney Gina Cirincion said.

Mom shrugged. "No comment," the woman said when asked by Assistant Public Defender Brian Hutchison in Washington County juvenile court if she agreed that her son would be better off remaining in foster care. Her 13-year-old son, one of hundreds who find themselves in juvenile court each year in Washington County, had admitted to vandalizing a vehicle. Other charges, including a threat to commit arson, were dismissed. "You took your medications today?" Hutchison asked the boy. The boy, who previously was found not mentally competent, answered that he had. The types of medications were not discussed in court.

A ceremony will be held next week to celebrate a $6,500 donation the Eastern Panhandle Juvenile Drug Court is receiving from a nonprofit organization that is dissolving, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals announced Friday. The check presentation to the court by Helping Hands American Restorative Justice Initiative Inc. will be Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at the Jefferson County Judicial Center at 110 N. George St. in Charles Town, W.Va., the high court said in a news release. Berkeley County Councilman Douglas E. Copenhaver Jr., the organization's president, has said the money the group raised at a fundraiser last year would be distributed to the region's juvenile drug court program, a drug prevention outreach program managed by Berkeley County Sheriff Kenneth Lemaster Jr. and a restorative justice fund at the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation.

The last of three teenagers charged in a robbery last summer - one of them a previous North Hagerstown High School football star - had his case transferred to juvenile court Thursday during a hearing in Washington County Circuit Court. Judge Dana Moylan Wright granted a request from the attorney for Iydae Anthony Bostic be transferred from adult to juvenile court, a recommendation in line with a report prepared by the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services. Bostic, 17, whose address was listed at Mount Vernon, N.Y., was charged as an adult with armed robbery, criminal conspiracy, assault, carrying a handgun and other offenses in a July 27, 2012, robbery near the North Hagerstown High School football field, according to charging documents filed by Hagerstown police.

A Hagerstown teenager charged as an adult in an armed robbery had his case transferred to juvenile court following a hearing Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court, but his co-defendant will have to wait for a judge's decision regarding his case. Judge Dana Moylan Wright granted 17-year-old Nijah Malik Abdul Rahim's petition to have his case transferred to juvenile court. Wright said she would decide within 10 days whether to grant a similar petition for Sheldon Lontre Maxie Hylton, also 17, of Chambersburg, Pa. They are charged by Hagerstown police in the Nov. 14, 2012, holdup of Hartle's Subs, 1301 Marshall St. Two males, one armed with what appeared to be a handgun, entered the business at 6:44 p.m., demanded cash and made off with an undisclosed amount of cash, police reported at the time.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley on Thursday named District Judge Dana Moylan Wright to be the first woman to serve on Washington County Circuit Court. Wright, 46, was one of five people whose names were forwarded to the governor by the Judicial Nominating Commission in May. Eleven attorneys originally applied for the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge W. Kennedy Boone III, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 in March. “I'm very excited and honored to continue serving the citizens of the county,” Wright said Thursday night.

The case of a Hagerstown teenager charged with attempted murder will remain in adult court after a Washington County Circuit Court judge Thursday denied a defense motion to transfer it to juvenile court. Judge John H. McDowell denied the motion from defense attorney David Harbin, citing the seriousness of the charges and public safety. Dennis S. Marshall Jr., 17, is charged with second-degree attempted murder, first- and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and firearms offenses in the Oct. 17, 2011, shooting of Colin Wesley Williams.

A Washington County Circuit Court judge Thursday sentenced a Hagerstown teenager to 10 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in the stabbing of a man with developmental disabilities. Judge John H. McDowell gave Matthew David Smith, 18, of 321 N. Locust St. a 25-year sentence with 15 years suspended. As part of the plea agreement, the other charges against Smith, including attempted first-degree murder, were dismissed, according to court records.

The case of a Hagerstown teenager charged with attempted murder will remain in adult court after Washington County Circuit Judge John H. McDowell on Tuesday denied a defense request to transfer it to juvenile court. Matthew David Smith, 18, of 321 N. Locust St. has been held without bond in the Washington County Detention Center since the Dec. 3 incident in which he is accused of repeatedly stabbing a man at the Arc of Washington County on Marshall Street, according to court records and the statement of probable cause filed by Hagerstown police.

West Virginia's first Juvenile Drug Court opened in Cabell County, W.Va., in 1999, and it's taken 13 years for the benefits of the program to reach out to youngsters heading for trouble in the Eastern Panhandle. Family Court Judge David Greenberg, who presides in Berkeley and Jefferson counties, is heading the local program. He said it's designed to keep offenders ages 10 to 17 who use drugs or are at high risk for substance abuse out of jail and on a path to a productive life free of drug use. The program is part of a national movement.

Whether caught egging a house or robbing a convenience store, minors who find themselves in front of a juvenile court judge face civil rather than criminal proceedings, although there sometimes is little difference in the outcome. "The basic procedures are nearly identical. ... The big difference is there is no right to a jury trial in juvenile court," Washington County Deputy State's Attorney Steven Kessell said. Police might not press charges for an infraction deemed minor, but if they decide further action is required, a juvenile - younger than 18 years of age - can be taken before a Maryland Department of Juvenile Services intake worker, who will decide whether the juvenile court has jurisdiction over the juvenile act, according to the department's website.