Charging 15-year-olds as adults common in Oregon

Kip Kinkel

Suspect could face automatic life sentence

May 21, 1998
Web posted at: 6:18 p.m. EDT (2218 GMT)

(CNN) -- The intention of law enforcement authorities to charge Kip Kinkel, the 15-year-old suspect in Thursday's Springfield, Oregon, school shooting, as an adult is not unusual, sources say.

Oregonians as young as 14 have been tried as adults, and faced much stiffer sentences than they would as a juvenile, the sources explain.

Oregon law stipulates that if someone is convicted of aggravated first-degree murder -- the likely charge in Kinkel's case -- the person faces an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole.

While the convict could not receive the death penalty, the automatic sentence means spending a minimum of 300 months in prison.

If Kinkel were charged as a juvenile, it's likely he would be released in a few years.

When District Attorney Doug Harper was asked how Kinkel would be charged, Harper replied, "He will be charged as an adult."

Responding to another question, Harper said, "As a 15-year-old, the death penalty is not available in Oregon."

Correspondent Greta van Susteren contributed to this report.

Message board:

• School violence

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Related sites:

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• Oregon Law & Government
• Springfield, Oregon Public School District
  • Thurston High School
• Springfield Chamber of Commerce
• The Spencer Butte Gazette
  • The Springfield Pages
• Welcome to Springfield, Oregon
• McKenzie Willamette Hospital
• National Center for Education Statistics
  • Statistical analysis report: Violence and Discipline Problems in U.S. Public Schools, 1996-97
• National Alliance for Safe Schools
• Gun-free Schools Act of 1994

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