The Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a lower court's ruling that denied a capital murder suspect's bid to be tried in juvenile court.
The appeals court also upheld Faulkner County Circuit Judge Troy Braswell's decision denying pretrial bail for the defendant, Hunter Drexler, now 20, of Clinton.
Drexler was among four teenagers charged as an adult in the July 21, 2015, shooting deaths of Robert and Patricia Cogdell, both 66, of Conway. Drexler, who was 17 at the time, is charged with two counts each of capital murder, aggravated robbery, theft of property and abuse of a corpse.
If convicted, Drexler could face up to life in prison without parole. He likely would face a less severe sentence in juvenile court.
The other teenagers, all younger than Drexler, have reached plea agreements and are in prison.
In the appeals court opinion, Judge Phillip Whiteaker wrote that Drexler's appeal had argued that a capital murder charge alone should not automatically prohibit the case from being transferred to juvenile court.
But Whiteaker wrote: "Our supreme court, however, has held that "the serious and violent nature of a capital murder charge, even if the minor is an accomplice, is sufficient to uphold the denial of a motion to transfer to juvenile court."
Still, Whiteaker wrote that the circuit judge, Braswell, also had considered other factors, including the additional charges against Drexler.
"In addition, there was evidence that Drexler -- who was [191/2] years old at the time the circuit court's order was entered -- had been offered previous opportunities to avail himself of the programs and facilities available through the juvenile-justice system but failed to take advantage of them," Whiteaker wrote. "For example, Drexler's mother, Kimberly Ison, testified that Drexler had pled guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia and was placed on probation but that probation had been revoked numerous times."
Whiteaker also noted the lower court had found that Drexler and a co-defendant "had begun plotting to kill" the Cogdells while the teenagers were in juvenile detention.
That co-defendant, Justin Staton, who was 14 at the time of the killings, has testified that he and Drexler fired shots at Robert Cogdell, Whiteaker wrote. Whiteaker said Cogdell suffered six gunshot wounds in his head and torso.
"Mrs. Cogdell was shot seven times while she sat in the front seat of her car in the couple's garage," Whiteaker wrote.
"Drexler rolled Mr. Cogdell's body in a carpet, and he and Staton used a tractor to dump the Cogdells' bodies behind a barbed-wire fence on their Faulkner County property. ... At the time of the murders, Drexler was less than two months from his [18th] birthday."
Eighteen is the age when a defendant is automatically considered an adult under Arkansas law. A prosecutor has the discretion to charge a younger defendant as an adult, though.
The Cogdells, who had raised Staton as their grandson, had been his legal guardians since 2010 even though genetic testing in 2008 had shown their son was not Staton's father.
In upholding the no-bail order for Drexler, Whiteaker wrote that the circuit court had "pointed out that Drexler, who had been wearing an ankle monitor as part of his juvenile probation, had cut that monitor off his leg just before participating in the murders and had subsequently fled to Texas."
Drexler's attorney, Patrick Benca, said in a text message Wednesday that he will need to petition the appeals court for a rehearing and ask the Arkansas Supreme Court for a review "to preserve [the] juvenile transfer issue."
State Desk on 02/08/2018