Hearing set to rule if teen accused in Caleb Quick slaying will be tried as adult
The hearing to determine whether the teen accused of being the getaway driver in the lie-in-wait killing of Caleb Quick in Clovis is set to begin Tuesday, according to a Fresno County judge.
Fresno Superior Court Judge Kimberly A. Gaab set the trial to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday in downtown Fresno for Cassie Michael, who was 16 when she was accused of being involved with the slaying of Quick on April 23 last year. The trial is expected to last five days.
Michael appeared in the Juvenile Justice Center court before the initial hearing at the Fresno County Superior Courthouse on Monday. She was wearing an orange jail-issued jumpsuit and did not speak during the hearing.
Gaab said she needed time to read through the case on Monday. She granted the teen a phone call to one of her parents.
Michael has been charged with murder. She was 16 when she allegedly drove another 16-year-old, Byron Rangel, to the McDonald’s on Willow and Nees avenues April 23 and then acted as the getaway driver after Rangel allegedly shot 18-year-old Quick in the head outside the fast food location, according to prosecutors.
One of her attorneys, Jeff Hammerschmidt, has said it appears the teen girl was not aware of the gun nor what would happen at the fast food eatery. The two 16-year-olds were dating at the time of the shooting.
Under California law, a teenager must be at least 16 to be tried as an adult and prosecutors must ask a judge to allow the teen to face an adult trial. That sort of hearing is known as a “transfer hearing.”
The prosecution and defense attorneys will present evidence and make arguments not unlike an adult preliminary hearing, according to experts.
The Bee has named the juvenile defendants after juvenile court Judge Amythest Freeman in May denied requests from their attorneys to withhold their names, entering them into the public record. The defense has also asked the judge on the transfer hearing to bar cameras from the courtroom, and Gaab said she would rule on that request on Tuesday.
Before a teen can be tried as an adult, the alleged crime must also be an “enumerated offense,” which basically means a more serious alleged crime like murder, rape, carjacking or robbery at gunpoint.
Juvenile probation officials will be asked to make a recommendation on the transfer. The judge can use it in their decision but is not required to follow the recommendation.
Both the defense and prosecution have acquired psychiatrists to testify about the teen.
The most glaring difference a teen faces in adult court is the severity of the punishment. Tried as an adult, Michael would face 26 years to life for participating in the slaying while Rangel would potentially be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, prosecutors said. As juveniles, they each face up to seven years of confinement or up until they turn 25, prosecutors said.
Mark Coleman, one of Rangel’s attorneys, has previously said the teens were seeking retribution for an alleged sexual assault by Quick that was caught on video.
