Judge Upholds Teens’ Murder Indictments

A Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that the murder indictments of three teens accused of killing a Glendale high school student were valid under Proposition 21.

However, because two of the defendants allegedly were accomplices and did not actually wield the murder weapon, he ruled that they are entitled to preliminary hearings--which will give their attorneys another chance to have them tried as juveniles.

The third teenager, Karen Terteryan, is accused of stabbing 17-year-old Raul Aguirre to death in a May 5 fight in front of Hoover High School. Because Terteryan wielded the knife, Superior Court Judge Larry P. Fidler ruled that the boy, who was 17 at the time, could be tried as an adult, and does not have a right to a preliminary hearing.

Terteryan pleaded not guilty Tuesday to attempted murder and murder with the special circumstance of gang involvement, said his attorney, Mark Geragos. A pretrial hearing in his case is set for Jan. 12.

Geragos, maintaining his client has a right to a preliminary hearing, said he plans to appeal the ruling. Prosecutors believe the other defendants do not have a right to preliminary hearings and plan to appeal also, district attorney’s spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said.

“It was a big victory for us today, because we’ve been saying all along they can’t do it this way,” said Andrew Flier, who represents one of the defendants, Rafael Gevorgyan, 15.

Gibbons said the case may help answer a number of legal questions raised by Proposition 21, which allows prosecutors to choose whether minors should be tried as adults for some crimes.

“It’s a murky area of the law that needs to be cleared up,” she said. “I think that’s what everybody’s getting at.”

Gevorgyan allegedly hit Aguirre in the face with a tire iron and Anait Msryan, 14, allegedly drove the other two to the scene of the crime.