Friday, February 02, 2007
Juviniles Accused Of Killing Horses May Be Tried As Adults
A detention hearing was held yesterday morning in Pike County district court as two juveniles had their first court appearance after being accused of shooting several horses, killing three of them and wounding others. The Two high school students were charged Wednesday with criminal mischief and cruelty to animals as a result of the incident, which took place Thursday of last week. The hearing, held yesterday in front of Pike District Judge Darrell Mullins is granted to juveniles within 48 hours of them being taken into custody and allows a judge to decide whether those in custody will be released or held until their trial.
The Pike County Attorneys office had originally stated that it didn’t seem likely that the two would be prosecuted as adults; however a recently enacted law discovered by the County and Commonwealth Attorney’s office has lead officials to believe the two may be sent to adult court. According to the Statute, KRS 635.020 subsection 4, any child over the age of 14 who is in possession of a fire arm while committing a felony. Should a district court judge find that there is probable cause that the crime was committed through a preliminary hearing and sends the case to the grand jury; the grand jury will have the opportunity to indict the offender as an adult, resulting in the suspect’s prosecution in circuit court. A preliminary hearing date was unavailable however EKB news will continue to follow this story and keep you up date on all of the court proceedings.
The Pike County Attorneys office had originally stated that it didn’t seem likely that the two would be prosecuted as adults; however a recently enacted law discovered by the County and Commonwealth Attorney’s office has lead officials to believe the two may be sent to adult court. According to the Statute, KRS 635.020 subsection 4, any child over the age of 14 who is in possession of a fire arm while committing a felony. Should a district court judge find that there is probable cause that the crime was committed through a preliminary hearing and sends the case to the grand jury; the grand jury will have the opportunity to indict the offender as an adult, resulting in the suspect’s prosecution in circuit court. A preliminary hearing date was unavailable however EKB news will continue to follow this story and keep you up date on all of the court proceedings.
# posted by Justin Mullins @ 4:34 PM 
