Juvenile to Be Tried as Adult Under New Law

A 16-year-old boy on Tuesday became the first defendant in Orange County to be charged under a controversial state law that allows district attorneys to bypass Juvenile Court and immediately prosecute minors as adults.

Carlos Sanchez is accused of fatally wounding a 67-year-old Santa Ana woman during a drive-by shooting over the weekend. According to authorities, Sanchez and two fellow gang members were targeting a rival gang when they fired several shots at people gathered for a barbecue outside the house. One of the bullets pierced the front screen door and struck victim Adelia Cortes Rios in the head.

“We have a victim who was just an innocent bystander who was serving tamales when she was killed,” district attorney spokeswoman Tori Richards said.

Prosecutors were able to charge Sanchez as an adult under Proposition 21, which voters overwhelming approved in March. The measure removed a requirement from state law that juveniles undergo “fitness” hearings in Juvenile Court before a judge determines whether the case should be transferred to adult court.

Orange County is one of the first in the state to prosecute under the law, which has been criticized by civil libertarians as draconian and a strain on the already overwhelmed prison system. But many prosecutors, including Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas, have welcomed the measure as another crime fighting tool.

“The reason the law was enacted was to help our office to more quickly bring to trial people like Mr. Sanchez who commit serious crimes,” Richards said.

Sanchez was arrested along with Jorge Martinez, 24, shortly after Saturday’s shooting when the black Chevrolet Camaro allegedly used in the drive-by crashed a few blocks from Cortes’ house. The driver, Antonio Leal, 22, is still at large and a warrant for his arrest has been issued.

All three are charged with several felony counts, including murder that is carried out to further the activities of a street gang, a new special circumstance under Proposition 21. If convicted, Leal and Martinez face possible death penalties. Although Sanchez will be tried as an adult, the maximum sentence he faces is life without parole.

Santa Ana Police Sgt. Raul Luna said several neighbors and relatives of Cortes’ were gathered at her house Saturday evening. Just before 10 p.m. a black Camaro drove in front of the house and the occupants fired more than eight shots from two .45 semiautomatic weapons toward the revelers.

Rafael Cortes, 38, the victim’s son, said his family moved to Santa Ana from Mexico 15 years ago. He and his wife lived in the three-bedroom house with his parents, his five children and two teenage cousins.

“No one had anything to do with gangs,” he said, adding his mother helped take care of his children while he and his wife were working.

Proposition 21 was backed by many law enforcement officials who said the government must crack down on youths who commit serious crimes. The measure increases the punishments for felonies that are found to be gang-related and eliminates the so-called informal probation system used to handle most juveniles who commit felonies.