DA sending a message by charging teen suspects as adults

Prosecutors today charged two more teenagers as adults in response to a recent spree of armed robberies in Colorado Springs.

Kenneth John Hatcher, 16, and Lorenzo Herrera, 17, are both charged with aggravated robbery.

Hatcher is accused in a Jan. 1 robbery of a Domino’s Pizza at 2580 S. Academy Blvd. His bond was set at $175,000.

Herrera is charged with robbing a Taco Bell at 1750 N. Powers Blvd. on Oct. 29 and a McDonald's at 207 N. Wahsatch Ave. on Jan. 13. His bond was set at $100,000, in part because a lack of any prior violent juvenile offenses.

If convicted they face up to 32 years in prison for each count, compared to a maximum sentence of seven years if they had remained in juvenile court.

The two cases raise to five the number of juveniles charged as adults so far this month. That compares to four juvenile cases filed in adult court in 2009 and 12 in 2008 in El Paso and Teller counties.

Magistrate Jeffrey Saufley, who presides in juvenile court, advised both defendants of the adult charges while their mothers sat at the defense table. Herrera sat with his chin cradled in his handcuffed hands while he read the charges.

Last week, 4^th Judicial District Attorney Dan May declared that “if serious crime is committed there will be serious consequences,” referring to three teen robbery suspects, ages 15 to 17, who were charged as adults in two robberies.

Defense attorneys say juveniles being charged as adults have been relatively rare in El Paso County in recent years.

“Clearly the district attorney is trying to send a message in view of the number of robberies that have occurred,” said Deputy Public Defender Noreen Simpson, who handles juvenile cases.

“What’s pounding in my head is the DA is trying to send a message with five kids here who face 32 years to get that message out,” she added. “That’s a lot.”

The law enables prosecutors to file charges against juveniles 14 or older directly to adult court.

Prior to 1993, such transfers required the review and approval of a judge. However, the state Legislature changed that law after the so-called “summer of violence” in which a series of violent youth gang crimes rocked Denver.

Now, a judge must approve adult charges for defendants younger than 14. That's the case with Daniel Gudino, a Colorado Springs teen who was 13 when he was accused of shooting and killing his younger brother last year and wounding his mother. Prosecutors have not declared yet whether they will seek to try him as an adult.

For more court coverage, go to the Sidebar blog at Gazette.com