FAIRFIELD – A pair of Fairfield teens charged with the slaying of their high school Spanish teacher will be tried as adults.
That was the ruling from District Court Judge Shawn Showers last week, who issued separate rulings one day apart in the cases of 17-year-old Jeremy Evertt Goodale and 16-year-old Willard Noble Chaiden Miller. Both were charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony in connection with the disappearance of Graber, who was 66 when her body was found in Chautauqua Park one day after she was reported missing.
Though both are considered by law to be juveniles, under Iowa law persons 16 years and older are required to be charged as adults when involved in a forcible felony. Courts, however, are permitted to send cases to juvenile courts under certain circumstances following a reverse waiver hearing. This was the strategy that lawyers for both Miller and Goodale employed.
Showers wrote in his rulings that time for rehabilitation was a major factor in his denying the requests to move the cases to juvenile court.
“The juvenile court’s dwindling time to rehabilitate the Defendant is simply insufficient for a crime of such magnitude based on the nature of the offenses described in the minutes of testimony,” he wrote in the ruling against Goodale’s request.
“Dr. (Brenda) Payne’s opinion that the Defendant possesses multiple characteristics that would aid him in progressing through a treatment plan may be correct. However, it would not be in the best interests of the Defendant or the community to transfer jurisdiction to the juvenile court where only limited services are available for a short window,” he wrote.
His opinion in Miller’s request was similar.
“The Court notes the many letters in support filed by the Defendant speak highly of the Defendant’s character, particularly as a caring and empathetic person,” he wrote. “Such statements support a conclusion that Defendant has the potential for rehabilitation.
“However, the juvenile court simply has too little time to rehabilitate the Defendant for a crime of such magnitude and of the nature described in the minutes of testimony,” he wrote. “It would not be in the Defendant’s or the community’s best interest to transfer jurisdiction to the juvenile court. In the final analysis, there is not enough time for rehabilitation, and probable cause exists to charge the Defendant with premeditated murder.”
A pretrial conference for Goodale has been set for Aug. 1, with a trial set to begin Aug. 23. Miller’s pretrial conference is set for Oct. 3, with a jury trial scheduled to begin Nov. 1. Showers stated earlier that both cases will be moved from Jefferson County. Locations for the trials are to be determined.
