nyjets: "Is there any evidence that the kid was browbeaten in confessing? Furthermore, the kid is a murder. He will always be a murder and honestly, nothing is ever going to change that fact. And whatever 'trauma' the kid is going through is nothing compared to his victims. THey are still dead."

... instead of just spewing your opinion? What would be the point of punishing a child that age as an adult -- that is, aside from statisfying your cro-magnon urge for vengeance upon him?

According to statements offered by both the boy's mother and his grandmother, his father was a martinet who had a love affair with corporal punishment.

Now, speaking as a parent, I'm no fan of spanking, but an occasional if rare swat I might understand. But five times in one evening -- and for the same alleged transgression, to boot? I'm sorry, but that falls into the category of child abuse, by any reasonable definition.

Further, the vast majority of children under the age of 18 have yet to master the adult art of situational rationalization. I mean, really, nyjets, what would you have preferred this eight-year-old boy to do under the alleged circumstances at the time of the shooting? Call Arizona Child Protective Services instead, and file a formal complaint with a case worker?

That would be so completely unrealistic an expectation on your part that even you would have to admit its laughably cartoonish quality.

This boy just wanted his pain to stop, and finally sought to resolve the problem the only way he knew how, thanks in no small part to the wonderful role model he apparently enjoyed in his father. Given the opportunity, he took matters into his own hands, and inflicted a disproportionate punishment upon the man, as well as upon an innocent bystander who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The fact that the father apparently kept a loaded gun in the house that was well within reach of his child was an irresponsible act on his own part that eventually sealed his own fate, as well as that of his innocent roommate.

You're absolutely correct about one thing - this boy will have to live with the results of his violent action the rest of his days, and it's not something he'll ever be able to forget. I really don't envy his life from this point forward.

The police insisted that they read this boy his Miranda rights prior to interrogation, as though an eight-year-old would somehow comprehend them in the same manner an adult would. Further, his mother was not allowed to be there during their questioning of him, nor was any guardian ad litem apparently present for the proceeding. That so-called "confession" would never have stood in a formal court proceeding.

Police and prosecutors may very well have complied with the letter of Arizona law in this case, but by not applying one lick of common sense to the prevailing situation, they now stand accused -- by me, at least -- of certainly violating its spirit.

Frankly, I don't know why the boy's attorney and mother caved, and because juvenile records are sealed, I probably never will. But knowing what I do know based upon what I've read, I would have fought the D.A.'s office tooth-and-nail, just as a matter of principle.

What would be good enough for you folk, a return to the Black Laws with public drawing and quartering?

An 8-year-old St. Johns, Ariz., boy charged with double-homicide may have kept a written record of spankings by his parents, vowing that the 1,000th would be his limit, according to a police records released Friday.
A search affidavit by Sgt. Lucas Rodriguez says the child "is believed to have made ledgers and or communicated in the form of writings about his intentions. (The boy) told a CPS. .. worker that when he reached one thousand spankings. .. that would be his limit. (The boy) kept a tally of his spankings on a piece of paper."

Here's a commentary on the inhumanity of a parent who reached a total of 1,000 spankings of an 8 year-old boy.

You commented on that thread, too.

You would have to note that, and the interrogation of an 8 year old boy, alone, with neither parent nor counsel, by two gun-toting police officers who quickly became quite accusatory.  That was established early on.  But the D.A. pushed ahead with his crusade.

You commented on that thread, too, saying (inter alia):

If the kid shot the friend for no reason whatsoever, maybe the kid should be tried as an adult. It is possible for an 8 year old kid to be evil.

No eight-year old should be held up in court or a police interrogation room as having developed enough reason and judgment to know whether they have a reason to shoot someone or not.

You would have to note all that and more.

It came out in one of the articles that

One day after the killings, the boy gave police a statement which they have characterized as a confession. In it, he provided various explanations for what had happened, finally declaring that he had shot his father and the other man twice each to stop their suffering after they had been wounded by an unknown person.

At the end of the interview, the boy curled into a fetal position and hid his face. When asked what he was thinking, he told investigators, "Going to juvie."

Frankly, anyone who is willing to characterize a kid who'd been brutally abused as "Evil", as you did, should really take a step back and take a good, long, hard look at their own heart first, before opening their mouth or logging on.  We've come off 8 years of being governed by the idiocy that comes in the guises of there being people who are good and people who are evil and, worse, that there are still other people who know the difference and can judge it for us.  And, worse, the idea that there is no redemption possible for people who do wrong to others.  We all should have seen by now where following that sort of reasoning (to the extent one can call it reasoning) will lead to.  It's led us into the slough of despond that is the mess Bush and Cheney have left us.

The boy told police that he had been spanked five times the night before the shootings because he didn't bring home some papers from school. While in custody, he told a state Child Protective Services worker that his 1,000th spanking would be his last, according to police reports. Prosecutors say the child was not prompted to make the statement and agreed with defense attorneys that anything said to the protective services worker should be suppressed as well.