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Teen Court debuts in Commerce City

Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 6, 2006 at midnight

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COMMERCE CITY - At just 13 years old, Marina Price has been judged and sentenced by a jury of her peers.

Marina, a student at Kearney Middle School, got the minimum sentence from the three-member jury Thursday for her guilty plea to "fighting by agreement": eight hours of community service. She could have received up to 40 hours.Her 15-year-old defense lawyer, Hannah Frederick, said she was ecstatic about the job she did at the sentencing proceeding, at which she represented Marina and another teenager, who was convicted of cursing at a Commerce City police officer.

"They're all saying it was good," said Hannah, a freshman at Adams City High School. "They got the minimum sentence."

The Commerce City Municipal Court, the police department's school resource center officer team, and Adams County School District 14 opened their first Teen Court cases Thursday, allowing youths to be tried and judged by their peers. The program lets students learn how the legal system functions, said officer Lanissa A. Blevens, one of the organizers.

The project also is intended to remind defendants of their offenses and the harm they may have caused their victims. One example of that was the added punishment handed to Marina by jurors and Adams City High students Veronica Cortinas, Rebecca Bowman and Jessica Fredericks: She must write a one-page essay on how to better handle rumors in a positive manner.

Rumors are what triggered Marina's confrontation with a female student who allegedly spread slurs about Marina.

"If she didn't want to fight, she should have just walked away," prosecutor Reyna Gallegos, 16, said as she stood in front of the jurors during her closing argument.

Reyna, a junior at Adams City High, acknowledged afterward that the case against Marina was tough to prove. For one, the girl whom Marina allegedly fought with did not appear at Teen Court on Thursday, Reyna said, and she was able to rely only on one witness, school resource officer Audie Vigil, who didn't see the fight.

Hannah, the defense lawyer, put her client on the witness stand, where Marina said that she simply wanted to ask the other student why she was spreading vicious rumors. Marina said she was defending herself, and when the other student landed the first blow, she struck back.

In the end, the sentence was more than fair, said Marina's father, Richard Price.

All participants volunteered for the Teen Court and were selected randomly, Blevens said. They all have expressed an interest in pursuing a legal career.

Reyna already has been thinking about the potential rewards of such a career.

"I would like to be a lawyer because I don't want to work as much," she said. "I also want to see all the types of people we have in this world that I would represent."

Presiding over the court was the judge, Adams County Deputy District Attorney Tomee Crespin. Serving as advisory counsel for the defense was lawyer James Greer. Sitting with the prosecutor and giving her advice was Deputy District Attorney Jamin M. Alabiso.

The three officers of the court also volunteered their services.