Youth to Be Tried as Adult in Santana High Killings

Charles Andrew Williams, 15, accused of a shooting rampage at Santana High School in Santee that left two dead and 13 wounded, should be tried as an adult, a judge ruled Friday.

Superior Court Judge Herbert Exarhos rejected claims by Williams’ attorneys that Proposition 21, the ballot measure allowing prosecutors to send juveniles accused of serious crimes directly to Superior Court, is unconstitutional.

Deputy Public Defender Randy Mize said Exarhos’ ruling will be appealed.

The California Supreme Court agreed this week to hear another challenge to Proposition 21 based on another San Diego case, that of eight teenagers accused of chasing and beating five Mexican migrants in an alleged hate crime.

In that case, an appeals court agreed with defense attorneys that Proposition 21 unfairly took away authority from judges. Prosecutors statewide are asking the Supreme Court to overturn that ruling.

In the Williams case, defense attorneys are raising different legal issues: that Proposition 21 allegedly violates the “single subject” rule for ballot measures and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Exarhos rejected those arguments.

Beyond raising different legal issues, the two cases also involve different provisions of Proposition 21.

The law gives prosecutors authority to take assault and hate crime cases--such as the alleged migrant beatings--directly to adult Superior Court, and it requires them to do so in certain other cases, including murder.

Before Proposition 21--which was passed overwhelmingly by voters in March 2000--juvenile defendants were sent to “fitness hearings” in Juvenile Court, at which a judge would decide whether they should be tried in Superior Court, where the penalties are tougher.

After rejecting defense assertions about Proposition 21, Exarhos required Williams to enter a plea. Williams lifted his eyes briefly and answered, “Not guilty.”

Mize said the teenager does not understand the legal issues swirling around the case.

“Based on his age,” Mize told reporters, “I don’t think he has a clue what Proposition 21 is about and how it affects his rights.”

Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Kristin Anton said the case would have ended up in Superior Court even without Proposition 21, because San Diego County judges traditionally have found teenagers accused of murder fit to be tried as adults.

“This case involves horrific crimes,” she said. “It’s the worst thing that can happen to a victim or a family.”

Williams is accused of going on a rampage of random violence as school opened March 5. Shot to death were fellow students Bryan Zuckor and Randy Gordon; 13 students and adults were wounded.

Relatives of the two slain teenagers attended the brief hearing in El Cajon. Earlier, outside court, they held up signs showing pictures of the two boys and called for the accused killer to be tried as an adult.

“I’m relieved,” said Zuckor’s aunt, Carol Lynn Briens, after Exarhos’ ruling. “These are tears of relief.”