PANELISTS SAY 40-YEAR TERM HARSH FOR GIRL, 16

Area educators, health-care professionals and lawyers gathered
Saturday to discuss a decision by the county attorney's office to
seek a tougher punishment for a 16-year-old El Paso girl accused of
trying to smuggle cocaine into the U.S.

"Our correctional system is so imperfect," said Cristina Cruz-Grost,
a child psychiatrist and forensic expert. "We need to come together
to educate and rehabilitate people who go through the system. E To
place a 16-year-old in the correctional department of Texas with up
to a 40-year sentence erases the potential for rehabilitation and
destroys her life."

The Ysleta district student, whose name was withheld because she is a
juvenile, was allegedly caught trying to smuggle nearly 50 pounds of
cocaine into the U.S. The street value of the cocaine is estimated to
be between $280,000 and $700,000, officials said.

Last week, a grand jury, at the request of the county attorney's
office, decided to allow the teen to be tried under the Texas
Determinate Sentencing statute.

Under the statute, the juvenile faces the possibility of a sentence
of up to 40 years in juvenile detention facilities and in adult prison.

In a statement released last week, County Attorney Jose Rodriguez
said his office was hoping the decision would deter the city's
ongoing problem with teenagers transporting drugs across the border.

"Proceeding under determinate sentencing statute in this case
demonstrates that we will not tolerate these types of crimes, and
should serve as a warning to those teens who might be tempted by the
money being offered by the drug cartels," Rodriguez said.

According to statistics from the Juvenile Probation Department, eight
minors have been detained at the bridge in the past seven years for
carrying up to 200 grams of a controlled substance, other than
marijuana. During the same period, six others have been detained for
carrying more than 200 grams of a controlled substance, other than marijuana.

Panelists Saturday said the figures are not enough to prove the need
for determinate sentencing.

"I have to wonder if this was politically motivated," said Samuel
Schmidt, a political science professor at the Universidad Autonoma de
Ciudad Juarez.

"It seems that they are not really trying to rehabilitate if they are
trying to sentence a 16-year-old to 40 years in prison. Did she do
something wrong? Yes. Should she be punished? Yes. But to what extent?"

Elhiu Dominguez, the county attorney's office spokesman, said that
the decision to prosecute under the Texas Determinate Sentencing
statute does not necessarily mean that the office is trying for a
40-year sentence.

Instead, he said, the statute allows a jury the flexibility to punish
the juvenile past her 21st birthday, under provisions that include
prison time, probation or parole. If a minor is prosecuted in a
non-determinate sentencing case, punishment would not extend beyond
the age of 21, he said.

"We simply wanted to give jurors an option for a wider sentence,"
Dominguez said. "Our emphasis is not on incarcerating juveniles but
on rehabilitating them."

The teenager's trial, originally set for Monday, has been rescheduled
for 8:30 a.m. Oct. 30 in the 65th District Court. Dominguez could not
verify whether the teenager has a lawyer.