Boy, 12, convicted of dad's murder
2013-01-14 22:29
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Riverside - A California boy, now
12, was convicted of second-degree murder on Monday for shooting dead his
neo-Nazi father, following a juvenile trial that centred on abuse allegations
and the young defendant's grasp of right and wrong.
The verdict by Superior Court Judge Jean Leonard means
that Joseph Hall, who shot his father to death in May 2011, could be sentenced
to a juvenile facility until he is 23.
Hall's attorneys had conceded during the trial that Hall,
who was then 10 years old, shot his father at point-blank range while the older
man was sleeping, but argued that the boy should not be held criminally
responsible.
The case in Riverside, nearly 100km east of Los Angeles, has
made headlines because of Jeffrey Hall's neo-Nazi associations and the rarity
of a parent being killed by a child so young.
Kathleen Heide, a criminologist who specialises in
juvenile offenders, has said that 8 000 murder victims over the past 32 years
were slain by their offspring, but only 16 of those crimes were committed by
defendants aged 10 or younger.
A psychologist called as a witness by the defence
testified during the trial that Hall had been conditioned to violence by years
of physical, emotional and likely sexual abuse.
But prosecutors said Hall, who lived with four siblings,
shot his father because he thought he was planning to divorce his stepmother,
Krista McCary.
Prosecutors said the boy was close to McCary and
considered her his true mother.
