THERE'S AN INTERESTING CASE COMING OUT OF A SUBURBAN
DALLAS, INVOLVING TWO TEENAGERS WHO KILLED PARENTS AND NOW
ARE LIKELY TO GET OUT OF PRISON AFTER FIVE YEARS.
THIS CAME IN AUGUST 2009 WHEN A COUPLE WAS SHOT AND KILLED BY A
Ä13 BOY WHO WAS DATING THEIR DAUGHTER.
THE TWO THAT WERE SHOT WERE ALLEN AND DARLENE DEVILLE,
AND APPARENTLY WHAT HAPPENED WAS, THEIR DAUGHTER WAS DATING A
13-YEAR-OLD BOY WHO THEY DID NOT WANT HER TO DATE.
AS A RESULT OF THAT, THE 12-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER HAD
CONVINCED THE BOY TO SHOOT AND
KILL BOTH OF THEM ACCORDING ñ ACCORDING TO THE REPORTS,
WHAT HAPPENED WAS THE BOY SHOT THE FATHER, OR THE
STEPFATHER OF A GIRL FIVE TIMES, AND ALSO SHOT THE MOTHER TWICE.
MINUTES LATER, POLICE PULLED UP OUTSIDE THE BOYFRIEND'S
HOUSE JUST A FEW BLOCKS AWAY.
THERE THEY FOUND DARLENE'S 12-YEAR-OLD
DAUGHTER AND HER BOYFRIEND HAVING CELEBRATORY SEX.
JESUS CHRIST.
X IT'S A DISGUSTING STORY.
HERE'S THE LITTLE PART OF THIS AND WHY IT IS MAKING NEWS
TODAY, THE DALLAS JUDGE WHO IS PRESIDING OVER THIS CASE,
HAS DECIDED 5 1/2 YEARS AFTER THEY HAVE SERVED TIME THAT
THE BOY WILL BE ALLOWED TO GET OUT ON PAROLE, AND THE GIRL
MIGHT GET OUT AS WELL BASED ON GOOD BEHAVIOR.
I MEAN, AFTER THEY MURDERED ñ
AFTER THEY MURDERED THE PARENTS THEY HAD GOOD BEHAVIOR.
IT'S INTERESTING BECAUSE WE'RE SUPPOSED TO HAVE TWO
DIFFERENT JUSTICE SYSTEMS FOR JUVENILE OFFENDERS AND ADULTS.
WHEN IT INVOLVES SOMETHING AS TERRIBLE AS COLD-BLOODED
MURDER, IS IT IS ACCEPTABLE TO BE AS LENIENT FOR JUVENILES?
CHARGED AS JUVENILES, THE YOUTHS FACED A MAXIMUM OF 40
YEARS IN PRISON.
THEY BOTH PLEADED GUILTY AND WERE SENTENCED TO 28
YEARS AND 20 YEARS RESPECTIVELY.NET OR HAS
BEEN NAMED BECAUSE THEY ARE JUVENILES.
THEY COULD HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED TO ADULT PRISON FOR 10
YEARS, INSTEAD THEY WILL NOW FACE NOTHING MORE THAN
PAROLE AND ANGER MANAGEMENT CLASSES.
THE BIG ARGUMENT IS THAT THIS BOY HAD A VERY TROUBLED
LIFE AND HE WAS RAISED BY TERRIBLE PEOPLE.
ONE OF HIS UNCLES HAD MURDERED A FAMILY MEMBER, ANOTHER UNCLE HAD
BEEN KILLED, AND HE WATCHED HIS MOTHER ENTER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
HE BEGAN SMOKING MARIJUANA AT AGE 10
AND BECAME INVOLVED WITH THE GANG.
DESPITE MY SARCASTIC COMMENTS I ACTUALLY THINK THIS IS A
VERY HARD CASE.
I'M A PARENT, AND THE IDEA OF MY DAUGHTER'S 13-YEAR-OLD
BOYFRIEND MURDERING ME AND MY WIFE JUST DOESN'T SOUND GOOD.
RIGHT?
SO THAT IS TROUBLING.
SO YOU GET A VISCERAL REACTION.
AND THEN AFTERWARDS THEY HAVE SEX TO CELEBRATE THE MURDER?
GOD, I DON'T GET ANY MORE VISCERAL THAN THAT.
BUT THERE'S A REASON WHY WE HAVE A JUVENILE COURT SYSTEM
THAT IS SEPARATE FROM AN ADULT SYSTEM, BECAUSE 12 AND
13-YEAR-OLDS ARE KNUCKLEHEADS.
THEIR BRAINS HAVEN'T EVEN COMPLETELY FORMED YET, SO
HOLDING THEM TO DIFFERENT STANDARD BECAUSE OF THAT IS
THE POINT.
SO, IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HOLD THEM TO A DIFFERENT
STANDARD THAN DON'T HAVE TWO DIFFERENT SYSTEMS, JUST
MAKE EVERYBODY ADULTS AND BE DONE WITH IT.
LOOK, BEN MANKIEWICZ FROM THE SHOW MAKES A COMPELLING
CASE ON ISSUES LIKE THIS.
THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF THE SYSTEM, IS THAT AT 12 AND
13 YOU DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING.
AND SO I THINK THERE IS A CASE TO BE MADE THAT, IF THEY,
YOU KNOW, SEEMED IN ANY WAY REHABILITATED ñ
NOT IN ANY WAY, IN A SIGNIFICANT, CLEAR WAY
REHABILITATED AND REFORMED, THEN YOU DO LET THEM OUT.
THE ARGUMENT IS THAT HE IS REHABILITATED.
THAT HE HAD A VERY DIFFICULT TIME DURING THE FIRST YEAR
OF BEING INCARCERATED, OR DETAINED, BUT AFTER THAT HE
MADE GREAT STRIDES.
HE GOT HIS GED, HE SUCCEEDED IN BEING A CARPENTER, AND THAT
HE WOULD BE A PRODUCTIVE MEMBER OF SOCIETY SHOULD HE BE
RELEASED ON PAROLE.
I UNDERSTAND ALL OF THAT AND I GET THE POINT, AND OVERALL
I DO AGREE THERE SHOULD BE TWO DIFFERENT SYSTEMS FOR
JUVENILES AND ADULTS.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I HAVE A HARD TIME BELIEVING THAT AT
THE AGE OF 13 YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE SEVERITY OF
KILLING SOMEONE BY SHOOTING THEM.
SO, THE MOTHER WAS SHOT TWICE AND SHE DIED IMMEDIATELY.
THE WAY THE FATHER WAS SHOT WAS JUST GUT WRENCHING.
HE WAS SHOT FIVE TIMES BUT HE DIDN'T DIE IMMEDIATELY.
APPARENTLY HE WAS ABLE TO CRAWL OUT OF A WINDOW AND GET TO A
NEIGHBOR'S HOME AND CALL FOR HELP, AND WHEN POLICE ARRIVED
AND HIS MOUTH WAS FULL OF BLOOD, THE ONLY THING HE WAS ABLE TO
SAY WAS THE SHOOTER'S NAME.
AND THEN HE WAS IN THE HOSPITAL FOR A FEW WEEKS AND DIED
BECAUSE HE COULDN'T RECOVER FROM THE SURGERY.
I DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL, THERE HAS TO BE SOME SORT OF TEST TO
INDICATE THAT THIS KID ISN'T GOING TO BE ANY TYPE OF HARM TO
SOCIETY.
BUT ALSO, I DON'T WANT TO MAKE IT SEEM LIKE HE'S THE ONLY
ONE WHO IS WRONG IN ALL OF THIS.
THE 12 GO GIRL APPARENTLY LIED TO HIM AND TOLD HIM HE WAS
PREGNANT, AND THAT HIS ñ
THAT HER STEPFATHER WAS SEXUALLY ASSAULTING HER.
THERE'S A POSSIBILITY NEXT YEAR THAT THE JUDGE COULD
RELEASE HER AS WELL.
SO YOU'RE RIGHT, IT'S A DIFFICULT STORY, BUT I JUST
FIND IT SO HARD TO BELIEVE THAT 13
YOU UNDERSTAND THAT MURDER IS AS SERIOUS AS IT IS.
AT 13 I BELIEVE A LOT OF CRAZY THINGS.
WHAT I HAVE MURDERED MY PARENTS UNDER ñ UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE?
I IMAGINE MY ANSWER IS AN OVERWHELMING NOTE.
ON THE OTHER HAND I DIDN'T GROW UP ABUSED, I GREW UP IN A
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CONTEXT.
THAT'S WHY WE HAVE THE SYSTEM WE DO AND WHY WE HAVE JUDGES.
THE JUDGE MADE THE CALL ON THIS CASE AFTER LOOKING AT ALL
THE EVIDENCE, EVIDENCE WE ARE NOT PRIVY TO.
SO, AS TRAGIC AS IT IS AND GUT WRENCHING AS IT IS, HERE'S A
SYSTEM WORKING, IN THE SENSE THAT THIS IS WHAT JUVENILE
PUNISHMENT IN JUSTICE SYSTEM IS
FOR.
IF THE JUDGMENT THAT CALL, AND HE HAS A RIGHT TO MAKE THAT
CALL, WE HAD TO TRUST HIM ON IT.
ESPECIALLY IF THERE'S NO EVIDENCE OF WRONGDOING OR
BIAS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
HE'S JUST DOING WHAT HE SUPPOSED TO DO.
AN INTERESTING FACT ABOUT TEXAS IS THAT, AT THE AGE OF
13 YOU CANNOT BE TRIED AS AN ADULT.
AT THE AGE OF 14 YOU CAN.
SO HAD HE DONE THIS CRIME ONE YEAR LATER HE WOULD
PROBABLY BE IN PRISON FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE.
CAN'T FACE THE DEATH PENALTY BECAUSE THE SUPREME COURT
RULED THAT IF YOU'RE A MINER YOU CANNOT BE SENTENCED TO
DEATH, BUT IT IS AN INTERESTING CASE.
ALSO, KEEP IN MIND THAT THERE SEEMS TO BE A DOUBLE STANDARD.
WE DON'T KNOW THE IDENTITIES OF THESE TWO PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY
WERE MINORS WHEN THEY COMMITTED THE CRIME, BUT I THINK ABOUT THE
CASE OF STEPHEN AVERY AND HOW HIS NEPHEW WAS SENTENCED TO LIFE
IN PRISON, RIGHT?
WHILE HE WAS UNDERAGE.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WATCHED MAKING A MURDER.
THAT'S AN INTERESTING DOUBLE STANDARD, IF YOU WATCH THAT
DOCUMENTARY SERIES YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.
WHO IS THE REAL CULPRIT OR WHAT IS?
CONSERVATIVES, GET READY FOR YOUR HAS TO EXPLODE.
GUNS.
WE WOULDN'T HAVE ANY OF THIS IF THERE WEREN'T ANY GUNS.
HAVE THERE BEEN CASES IN HISTORY OF HUMANKIND WERE A
13-YEAR-OLD STABS ON MOM AND DAD TO DEATH?
YES.
ARE THEY EXCEEDINGLY RARE?
YES.
COULD THAT DAD IN THIS CASE TO HAVE TAKEN AWAY THE NIGHT
BEFORE THEY KILLED TWO ADULTS?
YES.
BUT IN THIS CASE DOESN'T MATTER, 13-YEAR-OLD,
IT'LL BE FINE JUST GIVE EVERYBODY A GUN.
THE ONLY WAY TO GOING TO STOP A BAD GUY 13-YEAR-OLD
WITH A GUN IS A GOOD GUY 13-YEAR-OLD WITH A GUN.
ALL RIGHT, THAT DOESN'T WORK.
PERHAPS WE SHOULDN'T BE SWIMMING IN A SEA OF GUNS.
GO AHEAD AND GET ANGRY, BUT YOUR ONLY PROBLEM IS THAT YOU
KNOW I'M 100% RIGHT.
IF THEY DIDN'T HAVE ACCESS TO A GUN, THOSE PEOPLE WOULD BE
ALIVE TODAY.