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| Teen bound for adult prison |
| By tulsaworld.com - BILL BRAUN |
| Published: 12/14/2011 |
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A Tulsa teenager who has been treated as a youthful offender for murdering a classmate will be transferred to an adult prison to serve a life sentence, a judge decided Tuesday. At a hearing, Tulsa County District Judge William Kellough granted a prosecutor's request to "bridge" Montoya Harris into the adult system, where she faces a sentence of life with parole possible. Assistant District Attorney Julie Doss said Harris has "failed to substantially comply'' with a rehabilitative treatment program developed by the state Office of Juvenile Affairs. Harris has spent 33 months at the Central Oklahoma Juvenile Center, a secure treatment facility at Tecumseh, and continues to break the rules and engage in disruptive conduct, Doss indicated. Harris, now 18, has had "chance after chance after chance," Doss said. "Enough is enough." Defense lawyer Thomas Mortensen said there are areas in her treatment program, such as school and group therapy, where Harris has done "extremely well." As a youthful offender, Harris could not have been kept in OJA custody beyond her 20th birthday, which is April 12, 2013. Mortensen argued that instead of bridging her into the Department of Corrections, she should be given a chance to continue in her OJA treatment program. "I feel like I'm doing better," Harris said Tuesday. An OJA report filed Dec. 6 states that Harris, since her placement at Central Oklahoma Juvenile Center, "has demonstrated a chronic and ongoing pattern of disregard for the facility rules and the rights of others." She has accumulated in excess of 200 minor rules violations and multiple major rules violations, according to the OJA report, which recommended that custody of Harris be transferred to the Department of Corrections. Read More. |
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