The Pennsylvania Superior Court has ordered Lawrence
County Judge John Hodge to hold a detention hearing for Jordan Brown. He has been detained for
more than three years on charges that he fatally shot his father's pregnant
fiancee.
Brown, now 14, has been held in the Edmund L.
Thomas Adolescent Detention Center in Erie since February 2009, when he was
charged with the killings of Kenzie Houk whose pregnancy was nearly at its
full-term. Brown was 11-years-old at the time of the killing, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
In October, Hodge denied a
motion by Jordan's defense attorneys to hold a detention hearing for him, saying
he lacked jurisdiction because the Superior Court panel had yet to hear an
appeal on a different aspect of the case.
Under the Pennsylvania Juvenile Act, a juvenile must be released or
adjudicated within 10 days of being charged. Brown was originally charged as an adult. He faced life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted in adult court.
Last year, Judge Dominick Motto decided his case should be
handled in juvenile court after the Superior Court sent the case back to him after setting aside Motto's decision that the case should remain in adult court, reported the Post-Gazette.
A three-judge panel of the Superior Court expressed concern
that no detention hearing had been held. The order issued last week directs Hodge to hold the detention hearing by April 5.
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