Judge rejects challenges to Prop. 21; defense to appeal

April 28, 2001

EL CAJON -- Charles "Andy" Williams can face trial as an adult on charges stemming from the Santana High School shootings last month, a judge ruled yesterday.

Defense lawyers said they would appeal the decision by Superior Court Judge Herbert Exarhos, who turned aside a challenge to a new state law mandating adult trials for some youths charged with violent crimes.

Some portions of the law have been declared unconstitutional by a San Diego appellate court in a case involving eight North County teen-agers accused of attacking nursery workers. The state Supreme Court decided on Wednesday it will review that case.

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In the meantime, Williams was formally arraigned yesterday minutes after Exarhos finished reading his decision. The courtroom was packed on one side with family and supporters of the shooting victims, and on the other with supporters of Williams.

The 15-year-old boy, who spent most of the 43-minute hearing slumped in his chair with his chin pressed to his chest, uttered his first public words since his arrest in the bathroom of the Santee campus where the rampage took place.

"Not guilty," he said in a light, clear voice when Exarhos asked how he pleaded to the charges. Williams is facing two counts of murder and 26 other felonies including attempted murder and assault with a firearm.

He also faces special circumstance allegations of committing multiple murders and killing by lying in wait. Two students, 14-year-old Bryan Zuckor and 17-year-old Randy Gordon, were killed in the shooting spree, and their relatives welcomed the ruling.

"The truth is what he did," said Carol Lynn Briens, Zuckor's aunt. "And what he did has affected many people's lives."

Williams is facing trial as an adult under Proposition 21, a sweeping crime measure approved by voters in March 2000. Defense attorneys Randy Mize and Jo Pastore challenged the law, claiming it is unconstitutional.

They said the proposition violated a state law requiring such measures to cover only a single subject. They also said that sending youths to adult prisons constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, and that the law violates the separation of powers principle by giving prosecutors too much power.

But Exarhos systematically rejected each of those attacks. He said that the sweeping measure and its many provision are all "reasonably germane" to one purpose -- combatting juvenile crime.

"The provisions set forth in Proposition 21 are related to modifying the juvenile justice system in order to promote the safety of the citizens by making juveniles more accountable for their actions," Exarhos said.

Defense attorneys had argued that Proposition 21 requires prosecutors to file a special circumstance charge -- such as multiple murders or lying in wait -- against juveniles in order for the case to go immediately to an adult court. That charging decision effectively closes off any possibility that a youth could be sentenced as a juvenile -- and the lawyers argued such a scheme gave prosecutors power normally reserved for judges.

But Exarhos said prosecutors have long had the power to file charges they see fit. Further, he said, those decisions are tested at a preliminary hearing, where a judge determines if there is sufficient evidence to support the charges.

Defense lawyers argued that mingling juvenile inmates with adults and subjecting them to abuse and assault amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. Exarhos pointed to several state laws that prohibit such mingling and called the argument "not plausible."

After the ruling Mize said the defense was "disappointed, but it is early in this process."

Prosecutor Kristin Anton said afterward that the case belongs in adult court. "This case involves a horrific crime. It's the worst thing that can happen to a victim or a family."

Before the hearing, about two dozen supporters of the victims gathered outside the courthouse in a solemn rally in support of treating Williams as an adult. Mari Gordon-Rayborn, mother of Randy Gordon, said she wants justice for her son.

"My son was innocent. His life was taken," she said. "Nobody should have to go through this pain."

"We are not out for revenge, as some people would say," said Rufino Macagba, the grandfather of Bryan Zuckor. "We are for prevention of more suffering in the future."

Exarhos set a preliminary hearing in the case for July 17.