3rd District Appellate Court: Judge Chris Fredrickson abused his discretion, 13 year old Deonte Moore should not have been tried as an adult.

A couple of years ago, I blogged about Deonte Moore, a local thirteen year old, who was convicted of robbing South Side bank and was tried as an adult. An Emerge Peoria blog reader recently pointed out to me that I neglected to follow up on what has been happening with young Deonte.

It was reported in the local newspaper in early September 2011, that the 3rd District Appellate Court in Ottawa held that prosecutors did not present enough evidence to move the case of Deonte Moore (now 16), from juvenile court to adult felony court. In short, Deonte should not have been tried as an adult.

Click here to see the court decision where the appellate court said Judge Chris Frederickson abused his discretion. Also named in the subtitle of the decision is Judge James Shadid, who has since gone on to be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate as a member of the Federal bench.

From the Emerge Peoria e-mail box…

"Because I have been following the Deonte Moore story for the past three years, I was pleased to see that the appellate court smacked down Judge Frederickson on this case - but I have to wonder if it is too late to save the boy. Also, what I find most frustrating is the main stream media has but ONE story on this case when it certainly warrants significant attention.

You may recall the case - a 13 year old African American youth arrested on a single armed robbery charge, "certified as an adult" after a slam-bam hearing by Frederickson. The judge used some pretty serious racist buzz words to describe the boy.

This boy received a sentence for bank robbery well in excess of many adults nationwide convicted of the crime. His sentence grossly overshot the number of years given to older boys for armed robbery. The unreasonable nature of the judge, coupled with the final outcome, was morally outrageous.

Research showed that the basis for the boy being transferred – was that he had purportedly choked his granny. It was horrifying to learn that Deonte’s mother and grandmother (neither of whom was what I would consider "granny age") were routinely using physical punishment on the boy, which made him act out and run away. They ADMITTED that they used this technique. And like many kids, this boy didn't show for his counseling sessions since they were geared toward the belief that he was the problem - and the adults were absolved of any responsibility. Deonte’s mother and grandmother learned the hard way that calling the cops on their kid was the wrong thing to do.

Our problem now is that serious damage has been done to this boy during the past three years, when folks might have been able to turn him in the right direction. He has been completely institutionalized and brought up in an improper environment, when he might have been placed in a treatment facility aimed at children of his age with the types of problems that he had. As a result, the likelihood that he will re-offend has probably increased by ten-fold.

My guess is that he has not become less violent, but probably more violent given the environment where he has been caged. Unfortunately for Deonte and this community, valuable time has been wasted and turned one small problem into a lifelong disaster. Only time will tell if the damage caused can be turned around."