Matt Miller

Master Gardener Ed Buyarski with the last edition of the season.

Prosecutors have filed their response motions in a case centering on three Arksansas teenagers accused of murdering a young Juneau man, but it’s unclear when the judge will consider the motions or next hold a hearing in the case.

16-year old Timothy Tyler Norwood, 16-year old Clinton Lavon Ross, and 17-year old Richard Shelby Whybark have each been charged with second degree murder. They’re accused of beating 19-year old Kevin Thornton to death in July in the Malvern area.

Attorneys for the boys say the cases should be split up and proceedings should either continue in juvenile court or be dismissed.

In series of responses filed late Monday, deputy Hot Spring County prosecuting attorney Richard Garrett argued against severing the cases between the three remaining defendants. He points to Arkansas state rules governing severance, such as whether there are conflicting defenses or antagonistic defendants, or whether the evidence favors one defendent more than another. A new standard is whether the judge or jury may be unable to distinquish the evidence between each offense and defendant. Garrett believes that the case does not meet those rules.

In another set of duplicated response motions, Garrett also argued against dismissal or transfer of the teenagers to juvenile court and maintained that their prosecution is still constitutional under Arkansas law. In part, he argues that prosecution of the three teenagers as adults is still valid because of the seriousness of the alleged crime, its aggressive or violent nature against a person, and the culpability of the defendant.

Hot Spring County court officials say the next hearing in the case has not been scheduled yet.

There was a fourth boy, a 14-year old, initially reported as allegedly involved in the encounter, but prosecutors have dropped charges against him.

 

Former Alaska Supreme Court Chief Justice and retired federal appeals judge Robert Boochever has died in Southern California.

A spokesman for the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says Boochever died in his Pasadena home Sunday of natural causes at the age of 94.

Boochever was born in New York, graduated from Cornell University in 1939, and obtained his law degree from Cornell University Law School in 1941. His resume lists being honorably discharged at the rank of Captain from the U.S. Army in 1945. He almost immediately began working as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Juneau, and then entered into private practice in the firm of Faulker, Banfield, Boochever & Doogan for 25 years before being installed as associate justice on the Alaska Supreme Court in 1972.

Boochever’s community activities while in Juneau included as chairman, president, or director of various community and civic groups ranging from the Juneau Chamber of Commerce, Juneau Planning Commission, Alaska and Juneau Bar Associations, Alaska Judicial Council, Territory of Alaska Development Board, two local banks, Boy Scout Council, Salvation Army, Red Cross, and St. Ann’s Hospital Board.

Boochever had actually applied to be one of the first justices of the fledgling Alaska Supreme Court in 1959. But he wasn’t named to the bench until picked by Governor Bill Egan in December 1971. Boochever served on the Alaska Supreme Court — including a stint as chief justice — until President Jimmy Carter appointed him to the San Francisco-based federal appeals court in 1980.

Boochever semi-retired in 1986 and began hearing a reduced case load. He did not hear any cases in recent years.

Boochever’s wife died in 1999. He is survived by four children and 11 grandchildren, including Olympic silver-medalist skier Hilary Lindh.

Alaska Supreme Court Justice Craig Stowers talks with KTOO about his experience working as a law clerk for Judge Robert Boochever

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