Should Clovis girl in Caleb Quick slaying face trial as adult? Experts testify
Two expert psychologists gave testimony Thursday that appeared to favor keeping the teen girl accused of acting as the getaway driver in the Caleb Quick slaying in the juvenile justice system.
Neither of the experts who testified on the third day of a transfer hearing for Cassandra Michael, now 17, gave a definitive opinion on whether she should be tried for murder as an adult. They stressed that the final decision will be left to the judge presiding over the case.
Still, both experts for the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office and Michael’s defense team used five points of criteria required for a transfer, and both said that Michael should stay within the juvenile system in almost each instance.
Attorneys expect the transfer hearing to wrap up as early as Friday, though Fresno County Superior Court Judge Kimberly A. Gaab is not expected to make a decision on Michael’s status until a later hearing.
Gaab on Wednesday said prosecutors had shown enough evidence for a murder trial to go forward for Michael, who was 16 on the night in question.
Clovis police said Michael acted as the getaway driver for her boyfriend, Byron Rangel, in the April 23, 2025, “execution-style” killing of Caleb Quick. Prosecutors allege they wanted to kill Quick for an alleged sexual assault the 18-year-old committed on another teen.
The couple was seen on video at a Clovis McDonald’s on Willow and Nees avenues with friends around 7:45 p.m. that night for ”Fry Night,” a weekly gathering after a local church’s youth group meeting. They left before Michael returned later, alone, in her car. Rangel arrived after that on foot, dressed in all black and wearing a mask, prosecutors have said.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Kendall Reynolds called Dr. Blake Carmichael, a clinical psychologist from UC Davis. Carmichael said the criteria are supposed to be weighed on a spectrum.
“It’s not an on or off switch,” he said.
There are five factors in a transfer hearing meant to determine whether a juvenile should be tried as an adult:
- Totality of the circumstances and seriousness of the crime.
- The degree of sophistication of the crime.
- The likeliness of rehabilitation of the teen.
- Previous history of delinquency.
- Success of previous attempts at rehabilitation.
The prosecution’s expert said four of the five factors leaned toward keeping Michael in the juvenile court system. Only the gravity of the crime leaned toward transferring the teen to an adult hearing, Carmichael testified.
While the findings on the five factors appeared quite similar, the experts for prosecutors and Michael’s defense spoke about the crime differently.
Carmichael said the fact Michael spoke to Rangel about the alleged sexual assault by Quick showed “a kind of plan” to carry out the attack. He noted that Michael told friends at McDonald’s she was taking Rangel home before they later returned separately, which the prosecution has couched as a lie and potential alibi.
“There was certainly some intent around doing something,” Carmichael said. “I didn’t have any information available to me that (Cassie) knew (Byron) intended to shoot (Caleb) or directed him to shoot him.”
The prosecution’s expert testified adolescents tend to act more impulsively than adults, and Michael was prone to anger as having herself been a victim of unwanted sexual pressure from a partner. The details of that sexual incident were not discussed in court, but Carmichael said that episode may have played a factor in the actions of the couple.
“There was some kind of intent to rectify a wrong. Certainly trying to stop someone from doing something bad can be virtuous,” he said. “How you go about doing that could be criminal.”
The expert who testified for the defense was Dr. Lisa Calich, a forensic psychologist who has a private practice and has worked for the California Board of Parole.
Calich worked for Carmichael at UC Davis and both said they held the other in high regard. She said all five factors leaned toward leaving Michael in the juvenile system.
She interviewed Michael and read the reports in the case, while Carmichael was not allowed to conduct his own interview.
She said Michael showed low levels of sophistication in the act. The Clovis McDonald’s was a common teen hangout and was equipped with cameras.
“I don’t see that as highly sophisticated given they were surrounded by people who knew them well,” she said. “I would rate it a lower degree of sophistication.”
Calich pointed to the “first love relationship” between Michael and Rangel as a potential factor that intensified their emotions and led to impulsive behavior in a “highly emotional context.”
“She appeared to be pretty resistant to influence. She wasn’t doing things to get into trouble with friends,” Calich said. “The first love relationship had a certain power over her. She perhaps got caught up on emotion more easily in that context.”
Calich described the 24 hours between the couple’s text discussion about the alleged sexual assault and the killing as short and impulsive. Carmichael described it as “not short at all.”
Cassandra Michael’s family history
The experts described Michael as coming from a difficult family background, having been born to a biological mother who was addicted to methamphetamine. The mother used while pregnant with Michael, who was taken away before her parents adopted her at about 6 months old.
They described Michael’s time in school as productive. She had no criminal history or any misbehavior besides the kind of minor offenses that teens often get into, both experts testified.
Both also noted Michael had a difficult time when her parents got divorced, but said she saw a therapist and was responsive to that support.
The transfer hearing is set to resume Friday afternoon.
