Saturday, February 16, 2008

Mouton: Memorial Middle School shooter will remain behind bars

Memorial Middle School shooter Thomas Gregory White will remain behind bars as he awaits trial.
Jasper County Circuit Court Judge David Mouton overruled defense motions Friday to either reduce the 15-year-old's bond or to allow him to be placed under house arrest:

Judge David Mouton told the courtroom the charges are too serious for him
to allow White a reduced bond or home detention.
White has been in the
Jasper County Jail since December 2006, when he was certified to stand trial as
an adult on four felony charges related to the alleged shooting and one count of
trying to flee juvenile detention.
White was 13 at the time he allegedly
fired the rifle inside his middle school in October 2006. Prosecutors say the
gun jammed after one shot into the ceiling. Nobody was injured.
Public
defender James Egan argued Friday that White's 14-month incarceration is
beginning to border on "cruel and unusual punishment" because his age means he
has to be kept in isolation.
Mouton rejected that argument and said part of
the purpose of bond was to protect public safety.

No comments: