EDITORIAL: Plea deal in fatal beating of Rancho student a travesty of justice

Punishment is intended to accomplish two purposes — justice and deterrence. The plea deal offered to the teenagers charged with beating a 17-year-old Rancho High School student to death accomplishes neither.

This month, the Clark County district attorney’s office reached an agreement with four teenagers charged as adults in the beating death of Jonathan Lewis. Instead of facing second-degree murder and conspiracy charges as adults, they would return to juvenile court. There, the defendants agreed to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

Mr. Lewis was killed in November, brutally beaten by a group of teens near Rancho High School, which he attended. Police believe Mr. Lewis was going to fight someone over some stolen items. He did throw a punch, a video of the tragedy reveals. But instead of a one-on-one contest, around 10 teenagers then swarmed Mr. Lewis and savagely kicked and stomped him unconscious. He later died from his injuries. The brutal killing made national news.

After the arrests, Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Jason Johansson described the video as “very void of humanity.” Undersheriff Andrew Walsh said parents should talk with their children and “remind them that their actions have consequences.”

Not so much in this case. In juvenile court, the defendants won’t receive minimum jail sentences. They probably will be released after completing rehabilitation programs. This won’t appear on their adult record, although some background checks may flag it.

“We believed we could get a conviction,” Pamela Weckerly, chief deputy district attorney, told the Review-Journal. “The question was what we thought was an appropriate outcome in this case.” She said the office believed this was a “fair offer.” She cited the difficulty in knowing who was culpable for what. There were so many assailants beating Mr. Lewis it was difficult to see who landed what blow.

But unless there is clear evidence that one or more individuals landed only a glancing blow, they’re all culpable. Mr. Lewis may have survived kicks from two attackers, but he couldn’t survive a beating from so many.

The perverse incentive here is obvious. Prosecutors are rewarding mob tactics. Don’t think teenagers won’t notice. Remember the Las Vegas teens accused of running over and killing retired Bell, California, police chief Andreas Probst last August? One of the teens predicted he would be out in 30 days while he was being arrested.

“At the end of the day, a young man was brutally murdered, and I believe that some of these juveniles will be held responsible,” Clark County DA Steve Wolfson said last November. Not really. Mr. Wolfson should, if possible, reverse course on this travesty of justice.