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The judge and the juvenile. (My concern is for children of murdered mother)

The judge and the juvenile
by LAURIE MASON

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-06172007-1364362.html
See all stories on this topic:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ncl=http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-06172
007-1364362.html

Kareem Watts has dreams. A college degree, a
home of his own, a lucrative career in the music
industry.
He also has nightmares. Dark thoughts about how
things could have - and almost did - turn out for him.
"I know I'm lucky, and I'm grateful," he says. "Not
many people in my situation get a second chance."
Watts' second chance came from Bucks County
Judge Kenneth Biehn. Seven years ago, the judge
ruled that Watts, then 13 and the youngest person
ever charged with murder in Bucks County, should
be tried in the juvenile, not adult, court system.
The decision sent Watts to a Harrisburg treatment
facility instead of a state prison.
He'll walk out of the system later this month with
a clean slate and a box full of letters from Biehn.
The judge and the juvenile became pen pals of
sorts over the years, trading notes and greeting
cards between court hearings.
"The first time I got one of his letters, I was afraid to open it," Watts said,
recalling the crisp white envelope with the county seal in the corner.
"My hands were shaking. But then I read it, and Judge Biehn was telling me that it
was a new beginning, a time to learn to trust new people. It made me think."
Biehn, who will retire next month after 28 years on the bench, said it wasn't a
difficult decision.
"It was a terrible crime, but when you looked at this kid's background, it was common
sense. There was no way a jury would have sent him away for life. I knew that some
day, this kid was coming back to the community. And what kind of a person would
Kareem have turned out to be if he'd just been sitting in a prison cell all these
years?"
Murder on a high
At nearly 6 feet tall with a brilliant smile, Watts bears little resemblance today to
the sad-faced teen seen handcuffed in news photos after the May 15, 2000, slaying of
Darlyne Jules.
Watts stabbed the 34-year-old mother of three more than 70 times with a steak knife
when she didn't hand over the $100 she allegedly owed Watts' mother for crack
cocaine.
The murder occurred in Jules' Morrisville home. Her 7-year-old son saw part of the
crime and later caused officials to postpone Watts' first court appearance when he
couldn't stop weeping on the witness stand.
Police records say Watts was high on "wet," a mixture of marijuana and embalming
fluid, when he committed the killing.
He was charged as an adult and seemed headed for a trial in county court in
Doylestown.
Watts' defense attorney, Richard Fink, motioned to decertify, or return the case to
juvenile court. That's when Biehn, a longtime Juvenile Court judge and recognized
expert on juvenile justice, ordered that Watts be tested and studied by several
mental health experts.
The doctors' reports painted a disturbing portrait of a deeply troubled boy.
"Kareem has been hearing voices for as long as he can remember, originating inside
his own head and getting louder at times of great stress," wrote psychologist Robert
Strochak. "Kareem feels he has to listen to the voices or something bad would happen
and he would get hurt, and that they have control over him and he can't do anything
about it."
The doctors noted Watts' mother had a "serious drug habit" and had spent time in
jail. His father was in prison, serving what would later become a life sentence,
after he collected his third strike for an armed robbery in Delaware.
Parents in prison
Born prematurely, Watts spent much of his childhood sleeping in Trenton crack houses
or cars with his mother. The oldest of three boys, at 12 he got a paper route to
raise rent money. But he didn't earn enough and his family was evicted.
"Kareem has made several attempts to hurt and kill himself, holding in much anger
because of his father's physical abuse of his mother, because his mother is a drug
addict, and because he was left, at age 13, to shoulder the burdens presented by his
mother," Strochak wrote.
"If there was ever a child parentified by his parents' weaknesses, Kareem is that
boy," the psychologist added, "Yet he was certainly not ready for the
role."
Doctors traced some of Watts' mental health problems back to an incident when he was
9. While staying at a friend's house with his mother, Watts ingested nine hits of
acid and was awake and hallucinating for four days.
"His family sought no medical attention," the report reads.
The experts concluded by saying that Watts expressed remorse for the crime, was
amenable to treatment and could most likely be rehabilitated before he turned 21.
After a brief hearing in March 2001, Biehn decertified the case and sent it back to
juvenile court. Watts then had a non-adversarial hearing - the equivalent of a guilty
plea - and Biehn found him delinquent of third-degree murder.
Among other things, the decision meant that Watts would have to return to Biehn's
courtroom in Doylestown every six to nine months for a review hearing. Biehn added to
his ruling that if doctors found that Watts was still a danger to himself or society
when he turned 21, he could be involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital.
Watts says he recalls little of the crime and subsequent incarceration while awaiting
his decertification hearing, but he vividly remembers the first time he met Biehn.
"He was really tall. I had to look up to talk to him," Watts said. "I was
really
nervous. He asked me about what kind of sports I liked to play."
Bumps along the way
The judge sent Watts to Alternative Rehabilitation Communities, a Harrisburg
nonprofit that specializes in treating and educating delinquent youths. He started
the program in a locked facility, but eventually stepped down to a less-restrictive
group home setting with weekend visits to his grandmother's several times a year.

Watts graduated from high school and enrolled in Harrisburg Area Community College
while at ARC, joining the basketball team that played against Bucks County Community
College in 2005.
Dr. Ronald Sharp, an ARC staff psychologist who has treated Watts throughout his
stay, said Watts became a role model to other boys in the program.
"Kareem's character is what set him apart," Sharp said. "He has come a long
way."
Indeed, Biehn said. When Watts entered the program, he could barely read or write and
rarely spoke. His letters to the judge, at first hardly legible, improved each year
as Watts talked about his schoolwork and sports.
Watts said his roommates at ARC were envious of his frequent mail.
"The other kids were like, 'Your judge writes you?' Some of the guys here, their
judges don't even let them talk in court."
There were a few bumps in Watts' road to rehabilitation. In 2006, he was reprimanded
for dropping out of some college courses without informing the ARC staff. And
problems during a trip home to attend a friend's prom last spring earned him a rebuke
from the judge. His prom date was unable to attend the dance, but he went anyway with
friends. He didn't check with his probation officer first, though, a violation of ARC
rules.
Biehn said the missteps made him question whether ARC, and the juvenile court system
as a whole, was expecting too much from Watts.
"A part of me says, 'Damn it, Kareem, you've got a rare chance here,' " Biehn
said at
a Juvenile Court hearing in Doylestown soon after the prom incident. "Another part of
me wonders whether it's unfair to make you a poster child; whether we're asking you
to be something you're not."
When Watts' appeared before Biehn at his final review hearing June 1, the judge said
his doubts had been erased.
"You know what I like about you? You're not perfect," Biehn told Watts.
"I'd worry
about you if you were perfect."
No going home
Watts admits he's worried about letting Biehn down. One piece of the judge's advice
he vowed to adhere to is Biehn's urging that he not return to his old neighborhood.
Watts, who lived in Trenton, Morrisville and Bristol in the years before his arrest,
said that in the past he couldn't wait to go home to his family and friends, but he
now sees that's a bad idea.
"The people I used to hang around with don't have a lot going on in their
lives," he
said. "They don't want to do anything. I was just home [at his grandmother's house in
Bristol] and the same people who were standing on the corner when I was 13 are still
there, on the same corner."
Watts has signed up for summer courses at the community college and will move in with
a friend in Harrisburg after he turns 21 and is released from ARC. He works stocking
shelves at a store while plugging away at his ultimate career goal, which is to be a
music producer.
"I've always loved music," he said, ticking off his favorite artists - Mary J.
Blige,
Common, Musiq Soulchild. "It calms me."
Watts' younger brothers also want to work in the music industry when they get older,
and he'd like to collaborate with them. "I see myself pretty secure in the future. A
house, a nice stable job. Hopefully rich," he said.
Although he doesn't like to talk about it, the psychologists who treated Watts'
during his stay at ARC say he's expressed remorse about killing Jules and said he
felt bad for her children.
Jules wasn't married, and the father of her children moved the kids out of the state
after the slaying. Although some of the victim's relatives attended Watts' first few
review hearings, they haven't appeared in recent years. Their addresses and phone
numbers are not public record.
"I think they just wanted to put it behind them and move on," said Gary
Gambardella,
the county's chief of prosecution.
Gambardella, who had argued in 2000 to try Watts as an adult, said he's "cautiously
optimistic" about Watts' future.
"Judge Biehn has made him his pet project," Gambardella said. "If this kid
does well,
he owes it to Judge Biehn. I hope he does do well, because the better he does, the
better it is for the community."
Watts' probation officer, William Batty, agreed.
"I was a doubting Thomas, but he's done remarkable," he said.
"Judge Biehn's like a father to Kareem," said Fink, his defense attorney.
"I worry
about how Kareem will handle things now, without that father watching his every
move."
As he cleaned out his office two weeks ago in preparation for his retirement, Biehn
said he is confident that he made the right choice.
"I think Kareem will be fine. If there's anything that could be learned from his
case, it's that there should be more funding for juvenile programs. A lot of the
money that used to be available to juvenile court has been funneled out to Homeland
Security. I would argue that we keep our communities safer by taking care of our
children."
Watts said he has a hard time thinking about what would have happened to him if the
judge had made a different decision seven years ago.
"I can't even imagine what it would be like," he said. "I know it wouldn't
be good,
though."
Although Watts won't be released officially from ARC until his June 26 birthday, the
judge and the juvenile said their goodbyes at Watts' last review hearing, a
closed-door proceeding in Doylestown.
Batty, Watts' probation officer, read a short report, then Biehn announced the case
closed.
Watts' mother wept and there was a smattering of applause as Watts and Biehn first
shook hands, then shared a hug. The judge returned to the bench and smiled as Watts
turned around and walked out of the courtroom.
Laurie Mason can be reached at 215-949-4185 or lmason_court@yahoo.com

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I intend to last long enough to put out of business all COck-suckers
and other beneficiaries of the institutionalized slavery and genocide.

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"The army that will defeat terrorism doesn't wear uniforms, or drive
Humvees, or calls in air-strikes. It doesn't have a high command, or
high security, or a high budget. The army that can defeat terrorism
does battle quietly, clearing minefields and vaccinating children. It
undermines military dictatorships and military lobbyists. It subverts
sweatshops and special interests.Where people feel powerless, it
helps them organize for change, and where people are powerful, it
reminds them of their responsibility."   ~~~~ Author Unknown ~~~~
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