LITTLE ROCK — The second of two boys convicted in the 1998 murders of five people at a middle school outside Jonesboro appeared in federal court in Little Rock on Friday.
The same as a week ago, when Andrew Golden, 13, was escorted into a federal courtroom under tight security, U.S. Attorney Paula Casey and other officials remained tight-lipped Friday about the appearance of Andrew's accomplice, Mitchell Johnson.
But Casey later issued a terse news release confirming that the boys face federal charges.
It said: "The United States has instituted juvenile proceedings as a result of the shootings that occurred at Westside School in Jonesboro, Arkansas, in 1998. Federal law constrains dissemination of information about juvenile proceedings in federal court. This statement was issued with the permission of the court. No further information will be released."
Ray Nickle, a Jonesboro attorney who is representing Johnson in a civil lawsuit, said he spoke by telephone with the boy earlier this week about the possibility of federal charges being filed. Nickle wouldn't discuss his conversation.
He did say, however, that he thought Johnson, now 15, would be charged with three federal counts concerning the bringing of weapons onto a school campus.
"I'm not representing him on the federal charges so, obviously, I don't know the exact charges," he said. "There's such a myriad of charges that could be filed."
At least three times Friday, federal marshals escorted Johnson in and out of a lengthy, closed-door proceeding before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerry Cavaneau.
The hearing lasted from about 11 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., with about an hour's break for lunch.
Among the people seen going in and out of the courtroom and the judge's office were Casey; Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Alexander; defense attorney Mike Roberts of Memphis; Johnson's mother, Gretchen Woodard; and his father, Scott Johnson.
Johnson's parents, who are divorced, and other people accompanying them refused to talk to reporters, even to confirm their identities.
One week earlier Andrew Golden was escorted into the courtroom by several marshals. When he left a short time later in the marshals' custody, he was followed by his grandfather, Doug Golden, defense attorney Lea Ellen Fowler and other, unidentified people. None would comment.
Besides restrictions on the release of information about federal juvenile proceedings, except to certain people or agencies, it's possible that Cavaneau placed a gag order on certain parties.
Last week, however, Woodard told a reporter that she expected federal charges to be filed against her son soon. She also said she had testified for about 10 minutes before a federal grand jury in Little Rock in October.
During that testimony, she said, she both denied that she had had weapons in her home and said she didn't recognize two rifles used in the March 24, 1998, Westside Middle School shootings.
Also last week, the aunt of Britthney Varner, 12, one of the Westside dead, said Casey had notified the victims' families two weeks earlier that federal charges were pending against the boys.
The aunt, Regina Kaut, said Casey "told us that this would ensure the two boys will stay in jail until they're 21."
She also said that Casey told her the boys could be transferred from their state Youth Services Division juvenile jail to a federal facility as a result of the charges.
The boys were 11 and 13 when they set off a fire alarm at the school and then fired weapons from a wooded hillside as students and teachers emerged from the building. Four female students and a teacher were killed, and 10 others were injured.
Because of their ages and a state law governing juvenile prosecutions, the boys were tried and convicted of delinquency in juvenile court, in August 1998. The maximum punishment upon conviction in a state juvenile court is jailing until age 21, but Arkansas has been keeping youths only until age 18, for lack of a place to hold them the final three years.
Joe Quinn, a state Department of Human Services spokesman, said Friday, however, that the two will be transferred to a state facility in Dermott when they each turn 18. He said they will be held there until they turn 21.
Because Arkansas law doesn't allow minors to be held in a juvenile lockup once they turn 18, the state didn't have a place to hold the boys for the additional three years until the Dermott facility opened in July. Minors convicted in juvenile court can't be held in an adult jail in Arkansas even when they turn 18.
"They will be with us until they are 21," Quinn said. "Absolutely."
That means that convictions of the two boys in federal court would not affect the length of their sentences. Federal defendants who are younger than 18 and tried as juveniles also cannot be held beyond age 21.
In addition, the federal Criminal Code prohibits anyone younger than 18 from being tried in federal court without the approval of the U.S. attorney general. The attorney general can only approve such prosecutions if any of the following conditions exist:
The state lacks jurisdiction, or refuses to assume jurisdiction, over the minor regarding a specific allegation.
The state lacks adequate programs and services for the needs of minors.
The crime is violent or gives rise to one of several specific charges, and there is substantial federal interest in the case. The specific charges include some drug charges, being a minor in possession of a handgun or ammunition, knowingly transferring a firearm, and transporting or receiving firearms or ammunition with the intent to commit another crime.
Many of the guns in the Westside shooting came from Doug Golden's house.
Charges against minors in federal court are rare.
Doug Golden, the grandfather of Andrew, said Friday that he couldn't comment on possible federal charges on the advice of his attorney, David Cahoon of Jonesboro.
Randel Miller, a Jonesboro attorney who is representing Woodard and aiding Nickle in defending Mitchell Johnson in the civil lawsuit, also refused to comment.
Families of the five victims killed in the March 1998 school shooting filed a civil lawsuit against the two boys, their parents, Doug Golden and two gun manufacturers.
The suit, which attorneys said could be heard in Craighead County Circuit Court next summer, seeks to block the boys and their relatives from earning money from the sale of books, magazine articles or motion pictures about the shooting.
The suit also seeks damages from the two gun companies because they did not equip weapons used in the shooting with trigger locks.
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