Sims: ‘Very rare’ murder charge against 13-year-old has eerie precedent

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By all accounts, he is a criminal justice system anomaly.

Rarely has someone as young as the 13-year-old male youth who makes his second court appearance in a Goderich courtroom Friday faced the most serious crime in Canadian law.

The Central Huron youth was charged this week after police were called Tuesday to an area near the former Holmesville elementary school, in the tiny community west of Clinton.

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Huron County OPP has remained tight-lipped about the investigation and have not identified the victim, but sources have said she was a 12-year-old girl.

It’s difficult to point to any person in recent memory as young as him facing a charge of first-degree murder. The only famous case remotely related to this one occurred not far from the Holmesville crime scene, when 14-year-old Steven Truscott was charged with capital murder in the death of classmate Lynne Harper in 1959 at the Clinton airbase, now called Vanastra.

Truscott was acquitted in 2007 after years of controversy surrounding his hasty conviction at the same Goderich courthouse where the 13-year-old’s case will be tried.

Since then, “I couldn’t tell you when the last one was,” said London criminal defence lawyer Jim Dean, who represents many youthful offenders in the London area.

Truscott, who maintains his innocence, was sentenced to death and awaited that fate from a Goderich jail cell in the early days after his conviction. His case sparked widespread calls to end capital punishment and his sentence was commuted to life, before his ultimate acquittal.

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Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, that isn’t what the 13-year-old is facing.

His identity and the identity of the victim is protected by the act and court order. Like any other accused, he can apply for bail. Because he is younger than 14, he cannot be sentenced as an adult. The maximum sentence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act for first-degree murder is 10 years, six in secure custody and four in the community supervision.

First-degree murder is considered to be a planned and deliberate killing and is usually tried in the Superior Court of Justice. Adults face life sentences with no chance of parole for 25 years.

“If this is an intentional, planned murder by a 13 year-old, he’s going to get a murder sentence tailored not only for youth, but for very young youth,” said criminal defence lawyer Scott Cowan, who has taught the youth justice course at Western University.

“That is still a significant sentence for first-degree murder,” he said.

Jennifer Silcox, a Western University assistant professor and criminologist who specializes in child and youth studies, said the charging of someone so young with such a serious offence is “very rare,” and unlike other youths his age who might be facing criminal charges, he won’t be a candidate for diversion programs.

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“Because it’s so serious, it’s not going to get diversion. It would be going through the system,” she said.

But they are significantly tricky legal waters to navigate because it is such a rare case.

“The lawyers are mostly dealing with older teens or young adults when it comes to murder. It’s not as though they are used to dealing with effectively a child,” Silcox said.

Alan Leschied, a psychologist and Western University professor emeritus, agreed.

“It’s got to be pretty significant and major for a 13-year-old to even come through the system anymore because most of those go through community resource and diversion programs,” he said.

“It’s not the 12- or 13-year-olds aren’t doing stuff, it’s that they don’t go to court as much as they once did.  A 13-year-old charged with a violent crime, first-degree murder, oh my gosh,” Leschied said.

The youth is scheduled to make his second court appearance on Friday where his Goderich-based criminal defence lawyer Robert Morris is expected to update on scheduling a possible bail hearing and future steps.

A release on bail is certainly in play for a 13-year-old. Cowan said, unlike older youths or adults, an accused this young would not be as much of a flight risk and could more likely be managed more easily in the community with sureties.

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“But that’s not to say he could be a very dangeorus person, he could have a real violent streak in him that could make him very unsafe to police regardless of any safeguards in place,” he said.

There would also be the issue of the tertiary grounds for bail of whether granting bail would bring the administration of justice into question.

“Public interest and protection of the public would loom large,” Cowan said.

Dean agreed. The questions would be “Would the public be concerned if he was released? Would the public lose confidence in the administration of justice?” he said.

The youth returns to court on Friday morning.

jsims@postmedia.com

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