This photo released Thursday, March 17, 2005, by the California Department of Corrections shows Scott Peterson during the intake process at San Quentin Prison in San Quentin, Calif. Judge Alfred A. Delucchi on Wednesday accepted the jury's recommendation that Peterson be sentenced to death, calling the killing of Laci Peterson and her fetus "cruel, uncaring, heartless and callous." (AP Photo/California Department of Correction)
With his mother by his side, Charles Lewis, Jr. sat and listened as a legal tug-of-war unfolded in front of him to determine his fate.
It was day two of the debate over whether Lewis Jr. should be sentenced as an adult or a juvenile, but if felt more like day two of the trial.
The defense called psychiatrists from the University of Michigan on Tuesday who have had contact with Lewis Jr. Both have argued that the 15-year-old shouldn't be put away for life for his involvement in the July 2010 murder of Shayla Johnson. The prosecution has argued that Johnson, who was 19 at the time, was killed over drugs when she was taken from her home and shot.
"Charles was 13 at the time of this event and certainly the die is not cast at age 13," Thomas Fluent, a psychiatrist at the University of Michigan, testified.
Lewis Jr. and his defense are pushing for a lighter sentence, but the prosecution has been pushing for a tougher penalty to potentially put Lewis Jr. away for life.
"Adolescents are going to have bad days and they are going to have meltdowns," Karla Blackwood, a psychiatrist at the University of Michigan, testified. "If you look a the responses by the councilors there they'll say he was participating and was a good peer leader."
But the prosecution took time on Tuesday to bring to light the previous 19 police reports that have been filed against the defendant in the case.
Judge Economy ran out of time to make a decision on Tuesday and he's expected to hear from the victim's mother on Wednesday before handing down his sentence on Friday. Judge Economy will determine whether Lewis Jr. will face an adult sentence or a juvenile one, which would land him in a juvenile center until he's 21 and then a judge would determine prison time from there.
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