Cristian Fernandez is still facing first-degree murder charges. District Court Judge Mallory Cooper handed down a ruling this morning denying the defense's motion to dismiss the murder charge against him.
Fernandez is accused of killing his two-year-old half-brother in March 2011. A sexual battery charge against him was thrown out earlier this month.
The defense argued that sentencing a juvenile to life without parole is cruel and unusual punishment, citing a Supreme Court case from June 2011 that they say set that precedent. They say that the indictment against Cristian does not give him notice of the potential punishment as required by Due Process. Despite the ruling, Attorney Hank Coxe says they are pushing forward.
“We understand Judge Cooper’s ruling. It will not distract us from our commitment to fight the continued prosecution of this 12-year old child for First Degree Murder as an adult, exposing him to a life in prison without parole,” Coxe says in a statement issued from his office.
Mark Caliel with the state attorney’s office says that ruling was only meant to keep juveniles from being sentenced to life, not from being charged with first degree murder. The State Attorney’s Office only issued a short statement as well.
“With today’s order, the State Attorney’s Office will continue to move forward with the prosecution of Cristian Fernandez. We will not comment further about the order of the pending case,” says Communications Director Jackelyn Barnard.
In the end, Judge Cooper ruled that the defense's argument was premature. In her ruling, she says that Cristian has yet to be convicted of the charge he's facing and through the indictment has been given all notice due to him right now. As for the Supreme Court case the defense cited, Cooper ruled that although the case does require a sentencing court to "consider the totality of the circumstances, including the offender's age and how children are different before imposing a particular penalty," that the ruling "did not foreclose the imposition of a sentence of incarceration for life without parole for a juvenile convicted of first-degree murder.
Fernandez is scheduled to be in court again November 29th. The murder trial is currently set to start March 4.
