Boy who killed neo-Nazi dad seeks Supreme Court review

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Boy who killed neo-Nazi dad seeks Supreme Court review

Updated 4:46 pm, Friday, July 29, 2016

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Lawyers for a Southern California boy who shot and killed his white supremacist father are trying to get the Supreme Court to review his case to get him a new trial.

Scott Ballenger, one of the boy's attorneys, said Friday they have asked the court to consider whether his client, who was 10 at the time, had the ability to waive his right to remain silent during a 2011 police interview after he shot local neo-Nazi leader Jeffrey Hall. The California Supreme Court last year refused to review the issue, which effectively let stand an appeals court ruling that found he could understand what he was doing when he confessed to authorities.

The boy shot Hall, who was known for his anti-immigration protests and failed campaign for a seat on a local water board, at point-blank range while he was sleeping on his sofa in May 2011 in Riverside County.

The boy, who had a history of violence that pre-dated his father's involvement in the National Socialist Movement, was found responsible for the murder in 2013 and ordered to spend at least seven years in a juvenile lock-up. His lawyers said years of horrific abuse left him with learning disabilities and emotional problems. The boy told police he was afraid he would have to choose between living with his sparring father and stepmother.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Boy-who-killed-neo-Nazi-dad-seeks-Supreme-Court-8651948.php

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[center]

Jeffrey Hall [/center]

[backscatter712]

1. Give the kid a pardon for performing a public service. n/t

[bluestateguy]

2. Good for the kid!

Turn him loose with a pardon.

Dead Nazis are a good thing, not a bad thing.

[former9thward]

8. Maybe you can take him in to your home.

You now support murder based on politics?

[marble falls]

14. Gooooood question. I was afraid to ask it myself. Even the article discusses problem the kid had...

himself. Jail is not the place to deal with these, but immediate release isn't a good thing, either.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. I had to go down a rabbit hole on this

Go back to the history of the case. His mom really tried to advocate for him a few years ago. There were a lot of layers to that kids distress. He needs help.

[denbot]

4. There is a reason why the court distinguishes between juveniles and adults

This kid's understanding of his world left him few choices, but imagining being the judge behind the bench wondering what this kid is capable of in the future.

[Jopin Klobe]

5. What? ...

"The boy, who had a history of violence that pre-dated his father's involvement in the National Socialist Movement ..." ...

... so, Daddy's personality was not a determining factor at all and was probably just hunky-dory right up until the piece of trash joined up with the neo-Nasties? ...

... and then every thing went to crap? ...

[killbotfactory]

7. The vast majority of people who do horrible things, especially as kids...

have usually been subjected to some kind of horrible neglect or abuse. We'll never know what this kid went through, but since his dad was a neo-nazi... yeah, that's not a position well-adjusted people adhere to.

[former9thward]

9. So we suspend murder when its done on political opponents.

Ok, got it.

[Midnight Writer]

10. There should be some provision when the kid is ten, abused, and confessed without counsel

[Judi Lynn]

11. Wikileak memory refresher on the family:

Murder of Jeff Hall

. . .

Family history[edit]

Jeffrey Hall was the son of Joann Patterson. He was previously married to Leticia Neal, having two children with her, Joseph and Shirley. Joseph was born June 19, 2000. The two divorced sometime after, after which Neal had twins by another father. In 2003, the twins were hospitalized for failing to thrive, resulting in Child Protective Services removing Hall's two children. Social workers reported that Neal's home had no electricity or gas, that there were maggots on dishes, and that the children were dirty, malnourished, and had bruises.[7] At the time, Hall was on probation for driving under the influence. As a result, his two children were temporarily placed with their grandmother. In 2004, Hall was granted full custody of his children.[8]

After divorcing Neal, Hall married Krista McCary and had three more daughters with her. At the time of his death, he had five children. His ex-wife Neal moved out of California and remarried, then she came back to California only a month before the shooting, and was attempting to regain custody of her son.[9]

According to his grandmother, Joseph was a volatile and violent child. He had been expelled from several schools for attacking students and staff, once nearly choking a teacher with a phone cord.[8] She said he had no understanding of cause and effect. Joseph and his sisters had been educated at home by their parents under the guidance of River Springs Charter School.

. . .

Death[edit]

Hall bragged that he was teaching his eldest son Joseph to use night-vision equipment and to shoot a gun.[14] Eventually, the ten-year-old child told police how he took a .357 revolver from a shelf in the closet, pulled the hammer back, aimed the gun at his father's ear while he was asleep on the couch, and shot him.[2]

Joseph admitted to police that he was tired of his dad hitting him and his mother. His 26-year-old stepmother, Krista, also said that Hall had been violent with her and the son, sometimes losing self-control and kicking his son in the back. He punished his children in varying extremes on a daily basis. The police report said that the house was filthy, with the floor littered with clothes, and the odor of urine. Many weapons were accessible to the children.[2]

More:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Jeff_Hall

[marble falls]

15. Jeez, that is some dismal stuff. The horrors that get layed on children who are treated more like...

possesions than family or even humans. Jeffery Hall was a damaged being and it would be interesting to know what his own childhood was like.

[asimovecho]

13. bad

so bad