Hearing delayed on teens' request to transfer cases

3 held in Fort Smith slaying

FORT SMITH -- A judge on Friday delayed until next month a hearing on three teenagers' request to transfer their murder cases from adult to juvenile court after their lawyers said they would need a week or more to present arguments.

ADVERTISEMENT

More headlines

Sebastian County Circuit Judge Stephen Tabor moved Friday's hearing to the week of Feb. 27 to give attorneys for Shakur Sharp, 17, James Sharp, 16, and Dionte Parks, 16, time to present a long list of witnesses to justify the transfer.

Tabor said at the outset of Friday's hearing that he expected it would take up to a full day to hear motions to transfer the teenagers' cases from Circuit Court, where they are charged as adults. The three have been held in a juvenile-detention center in Sebastian County since their arrests nearly a year ago.

But Leonardo Monterrey of Little Rock, representing Shakur Sharp, told Tabor he would need three days to present his 18 subpoenaed witnesses. Kristin Pawlik of Rogers, representing James Sharp, said she would need two days to present her case. Public Defender Rita Watkins Howard of Fort Smith, representing Parks, said she had pared down her list of witnesses and would need a day.

Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Shue said he also would need about a day to present the state's evidence to keep the cases in Circuit Court.

Tabor asked the attorneys to try to streamline their witness lists, consolidating witnesses who would give testimony common to all three and to try to present testimony from other witnesses by affidavit. He said he hoped to draw up a final hearing schedule Monday.

Each of the three teens is charged with one count of first-degree murder, one count of kidnapping and two counts of aggravated robbery.

They are accused in the Jan. 23, 2016, shooting death of Kaleb Glynn Watson, 22, at his townhouse at 4700 Windsor Drive. According to a probable-cause affidavit, the three admitted to making plans to rob Watson, who lived two doors down from Parks.

Parks and James Sharp were 15 at the time of Watson's death. Shakur Sharp was 16.

According to reports, Parks knocked on the front door of Watson's townhouse to distract him while James and Shakur Sharp entered through the unlocked back door. Inside the apartment were Watson and a friend, Bailey Smith.

Reports said the Sharps, wearing masks, and Shakur, with a handgun, tied Watson's hands with a shoestring supplied by Parks. James Sharp went through the apartment looking for valuables to steal while Shakur Sharp held the two at gunpoint, according to the reports.

Watson freed his hands and struggled with Shakur Sharp and was shot several times, reports said.

Arkansas Code Annotated 9-27-318 says Tabor must consider several factors in deciding whether to transfer the teens' cases to juvenile court.

Among the factors are the seriousness of the offenses and whether the protection of society required the teenagers to be prosecuted in circuit court; the level of planning and participation by the teenagers; whether the teenagers had been adjudicated delinquents in the past and if the adjudications included violence; the sophistication or maturity of the teenagers; and whether there were programs and services available in the juvenile-justice system that were likely to rehabilitate the teenagers by the time they turn 21.

Two of the attorneys, Pawlik and Monterrey, told Tabor at the end of Friday's 30-minute session that they intended to petition him to bar the public and the media from further hearings on the transfer motions.

Because evidence in the case would be presented during the transfer hearing, Pawlik said, she wanted to ensure the privacy of her client, James Parks, was protected in case Tabor decided to transfer the case to juvenile court. Proceedings in that court are not public.

Tabor told the attorneys to file formal motions. He said he had never ruled on a motion to close a transfer hearing because no one had ever asked.

State Desk on 01/21/2017

Upcoming Events