16-year-old held in I-64 shootings
One of two teens charged in the March 27 shooting rampage along Interstate 64 was ordered held without bond today in a closed Charlottesville Albemarle Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court hearing.
Judge Dwight Johnson refused to allow the press to attend the hearing of the 16-year-old Western Albemarle High School student who faces 10 felony counts in the gun play that terrorized members of the community and made national news. Five occupied vehicles were shot– four from the Route 690 overpass in Greenwood and one from the Ivy exit on I-64, and two people suffered minor injuries.
Johnson, most famous for sentencing a couple to eight years for serving alcohol to minors, closed the hearing under a Virginia statute that allows cases involving juveniles 14 and under to be closed and also allows cases involving older teens to be closed at the discretion of the judge.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford said only that the youth had been detained and the next hearing would be April 16. She did not comment on whether the teen will be tried as an adult, or whether the next hearing will also be held in secret.
“I wish I could share more,” said defense attorney Dana Slater, who confirmed that she is representing the juvenile. “The judge directed us not to release any information.”
Also present at the hearing was high-profile attorney John Zwerling, who represents the man who was shot by police during the arrest of Slade Woodson, 19, on March 28 at Yonder Hill Farm in Crozet. Zwerling declined to identify his client, who is still in the hospital, because it could identify the teen. The man shot was a resident of Yonder Hill Farm.
Earlier today, Woodson, who used a ‘74 orange AMC Gremlin during his alleged shooting spree, appeared in a Waynesboro court to face two felony charges of shooting into an occupied building and shooting out a vehicle window at a bank. A security camera captured the image of the Gremlin. Woodson requested a court-appointed attorney, according to the News-Virginian, and he is scheduled to appear at Albemarle General District Court tomorrow morning at 9am.
quote: “Also present at the hearing was high-profile attorney John Zwerling, who represents the man who was shot by police during the arrest of Slade Woodson…”
I can see the writing on the wall already. The officer who shot the farm manager will be cleared of any wrongdoing. And whether the farm manager lives or not will dictate how much local law enforcement will be sued for.
Did the manager point a gun at police? If so, why? Seems if police cars were seen or they yelled “police”, you would just allow them to come in. Everyone knows, police will shoot back if you point a gun toward them. Why would this happening be the fault of the police?
Was Woodson living with the farm manager?
Janie, cops have only told me 20% of what actually took place. So I can’t really answer your questions.
And I probably shouldn’t anyway since the family now has an attorney.
SICK, What are you afraid of? You’re not on trial :-)))
I can’t see remembering let alone understanding a one word shout at 5 am if I’m sound asleep, let alone if I’m in an adjacent room or building…will be interesting to learn who the farm mgr thought was causing the ruckus
I agree, MrSofty. I can’t escape the feeling you’re going to see a very interesting test in the court system as to why this search warrant was executed at the time it was and in the manner it was. It’s not like anybody in the house can flush a rifle or handgun down the toilet as is often attempted in cases of illegal drug possession.
Keep in mind it doesn’t matter what reasoning or justification law enforcement offers up. The final say lies in the hands of a jury.
It appears to me this boils down to “Officer`s Judgement”.
Dependent upon one`s bias and experience , juries will probably consider several factors.
- Fire is not “returned” unless one receives fire.
- merely holding a weapon, not at the “ready” does not mean you will fire, it means you have the capability.
-Officers are presumably trained to exercise sound judgement in instances as this.
-the bias tilted in favor of law enforcement by courts and juries.
The “Blue Line” of witnesses.
A jury can get bound up in all this for a long time, I think.
quote: “Officers are presumably trained to exercise sound judgement…”
We’ve seen sound judgement in action recently. Back when a police car runs over a pedestrian, and then the cop runs up and physically moves/picks up the man not knowing what kind of injuries the person has suffered from being run over. That’s sound judgement alright.
quote: “The Blue Line of witnesses”
The public has finally caught on to this, Thank God!