Tag: Marlee Johnston

Lawyer asks for delay on freeing suspect:

The ever funny defense attorney Walter McKee strikes again. To refresh your memory McKee is representing 14-year-old Patrick Armstrong who is accused of killing 14-year-old Marlee Johnston. Some more gems from Mr. McKee…

McKee said Thursday that he has received new information from the investigation into Johnston’s death, and about Armstrong’s character, that could affect the decision on whether Armstrong should be returned to his parents’ care.

McKee said Armstrong has no criminal record and should be released to his parents’ custody while the case moves through the system. In the days since his arrest, a more troubling picture of Armstrong has emerged, as Web sites believed to have been produced by Armstrong profess his admiration for the Columbine school shooters and a notorious serial killer.

McKee downplayed the significance of the material on Thursday.

“There are a lot of things that 14-year-olds say to other kids that would be disturbing if you took it out of context,” he said.

Out of context? Are you kidding me? How is claiming Columbine killer Eric Harris as your hero considered out of context? The thought process of criminal defense attorneys astounds me sometimes. And they went to law school to learn how to come up with this crap.

Some not so funny stuff came out of this article too…

Armstrong will face different penalties depending on whether he is charged as a juvenile or an adult. Because he is younger than 18, he could be committed to a juvenile detention center until his 21st birthday. If convicted as an adult, he would face 25 years to life in prison.

The judge would consider the seriousness of the crime, as well as the likelihood that Armstrong would benefit from treatment. In Maine, no one has been tried as an adult in the last 40 years for a crime committed when they were 14. Several defendants have been charged as adults for crimes committed when they were 15.

Let’s hope Maine decides to end the streak. 7 years in juvenile detention is not nearly enough for a killer.

Attorney: Suspect had normal upbringing:

Defense attorneys continue to make me chuckle. Take, for instance, defense attorney Walter McKee. He’s representing 14-year-old Patrick Armstrong of Fayette, Maine, who is charged in the murder of 14-year-old Marlee Johnston. He’s trying to portray Armstrong as your average American boy next door…

The boy charged last week with killing a 14-year-old girl grew up with pets, laughed as he sat on a sled and learned to ride a horse.

Family photographs supplied by defense attorney Walter McKee show typical childhood poses of Patrick Armstrong, now 14, of Fayette, who was arrested in the Nov. 26 death of Marlee Johnston, a neighbor.

“People have seen a picture of him going to court and made incredible judgments about who he is and what he did. There’s far more to it than that,” McKee said. “He led a very normal, small-town life, nothing unique or out of the ordinary or disturbing. He was just a boy growing up in central Maine. He didn’t torture animals.

“Children at 14 years old, young teenagers, often have conflict with their parents. They think bad things and they say bad things; it doesn’t mean they’re going to do it,” said McKee. “We wouldn’t expect they would act on those things. He’s a 14-year-old, not a 24-year-old.”

Let me refresh your memory on what this all American boy allegedly said on his website…

“I hate this society and I hate most people within it,” the site reads. In a list of general interests, the site mentions skateboarding, hanging out with friends, serial killers and Columbine High School, among others. A list of heroes mentions Eric Harris, one of the gunmen in the 1999 Columbine shootings in Colorado.

“I am very interested in serial killers and school shootings and I find it hilarious that this fact bothers people,”

Here’s what McKee said about that…

“These are things people say off the cuff thinking it’s funny. When you’re 14, you don’t realize how inappropriate it is when you say certain things,” said McKee.

No, I think when you list serial killers as your heroes even at the age of 14 you know how inappropriate it is. It galls me to see people like this list killers as their heroes. When I was a kid the first serial killings I remember hearing about on the news were the Son of Sam killings. I couldn’t imagine, even at that age, going around saying, “Yeah, David Berkowitz is cool. He’s my hero. I want to be just like him.”

But this was the funniest thing of all…

He also said he plans to ask that Armstrong be released in the custody of his parents.

He can’t be serious, can he? Stay tuned and I guess we’ll find out together.

Juvenile or adult? Armstrong trial forces difficult decision:

This is an editorial about whether or not Patrick Armstrong, the 14-year-old accused of killing 14-year-old Marlee Johnston from Fayette, Maine, should be tried as an adult or not. The editorial meanders around for a bit but finally gets to its point…

Nothing society can do is a fair exchange for what was done to Marlee, whom all describe as vibrant, joyful, caring and kind. Nothing can return her to her family and friends or replace the life she would have lived.

That would be equally true if her killer were imprisoned for the rest of his life.

The right answer balances many needs: the need for society to be protected from people of any age who pose a danger, the need to punish the guilty, the need to rehabilitate those who commit crimes.

The juvenile justice system is based on the theory that children who commit even the worst crimes can grow into productive adults. That is clearly more true of younger lawbreakers than older ones.

Considering his age, even if he is convicted as an adult, Armstrong is very likely to be released from prison while still a young man. That would make treatment and rehabilitation at least as important as punishment. That treatment is more likely at a juvenile detention facility than at a state prison.

It is difficult to look past the anger and grief we all feel at Marlee Johnston’s death, to move beyond the need for vengeance, but the prosecutors and judge who deal with this case must do so.

We recognize that not all the facts of this case have been disclosed. It is unlikely, but possible, that prosecutors will find information or evidence that would argue against keeping the case in juvenile court.

Those unlikely circumstances would have to be compelling to overcome the fact that Patrick Armstrong is a boy, not a man.

The author of this editorial is misguided at best.