Judge Joseph Bianco
Juvenile Male (JM)now 19was 16 years old when he attempted to murder Doe. He was 17 years old when he took part in Rosario’s murder. A superceding juvenile information charged JM with crimesincluding, but not limited to, conspiracy and substantive counts of murder and attempted murder in aid of racketeeringarising from his involvement in the violent LaMara Salvatrucha (MS-13) street gang. Balancing the factors in 18 USC §5032, district court held the government proved, by preponderant evidence, that JM’s transfer to adult status was in the interest of justice. Thus JM was transferred to district court for prosecution as an adult. In addition to observing that the juvenile justice system was insufficient to adequately address the "grave charges" against JM, the court noted that JM’s juvenile recorddating to 2006and recidivism strongly favored transfer. Among other things, JM allegedly participated in the murder of Hamiltonfor which he was previously transferred to adult statusonly 11 days after release from a juvenile detention facility. Further, JM’s recidivism showed that JM has not responded positively to past treatment, and undermined his psychologist’s findings that he had a good chance of rehabilitation.
