The attorney for the 14-year-old boy accused of slaying another teenager on State Street asked prosecutors on Friday to reconsider the decision to charge him as an adult and asserted there is reason to believe police had the wrong suspect.

After her client, Ricardo Juarez, pleaded not guilty to murder charges at his Santa Barbara Superior Court arraignment, Deputy Public Defender Karen Atkins said it is too hard to identify who stabbed 15-year-old Luis Angel Linares in a crowded gang melee on March 14. Linares died after falling into a clump of bushes near Saks Fifth Avenue.

Friends of the suspect console each other after the arraignment. Photo by Rob Kuznia / SBN

In addition to sending shockwaves through the community, the gang-related homicide set a precedent as the first attempt to try a Santa Barbara County juvenile as an adult, authorities said. In March of 2000, California voters passed Proposition 21, which gives the District Attorney’s office discretion to charge juveniles as adults in serious crimes.

The prosecuting attorney, Senior Deputy District Attorney Hilary Dozer, responded to Atkins’ request by saying he had faith in the police investigation, which is ongoing.

“It was a chaotic day,” he acknowledged. But “we believe that the evidence establishes a reasonable and probable case that the defendant is responsible.”

Still, Dozer said he is not opposed to meeting with Atkins to hear her concerns. But he defended the decision to try Juarez as an adult, given the circumstances of the case, such as the gang connection, and the lack of any apparent self-defense on the part of the victim.

Judge Harry Loberg assigned the case to Judge Brian Hill. Photo by Jeff Clark / SBN

Judge Harry Loberg barred a photographer from taking pictures of the young defendant. Loberg assigned the case to Judge Brian Hill.

Atkins said she believes the District Attorney's Office made a hasty decision to charge the boy, who had just turned 14, as an adult. In doing so, she acknowledged the necessity for the swift action, citing the California Penal Code, which requires that prosecutors in criminal cases file decisions promptly.

Nonetheless, Atkins said, the filing of the charge on March 16 -- two days after Juarez was arrested – came too soon.

“In a sense, the D.A. was forced to make this momentous filing decision at a time when the investigation into this tragedy had barely begun,” she said.

Atkins said she is still awaiting the results of forensic tests with regard to blood and DNA evidence that may have been found on clothing and weapons. She added that 10 other minors arrested in connection with the deadly gang brawl will be tried in the juvenile court system.

“We believe that our client belongs in juvenile court too,” she said.

Friday’s arraignment was attended by roughly 50 people, most of them Latino. Present were friends and family of both suspect and victim.

Rosie Ramirez, a cousin of Angel’s, said she believes Juarez is the culprit.

“There’s a lot of evidence, otherwise he wouldn’t be here,” she said. “We just want justice.”

But another woman, who declined to give her name but said her son is a good friend of the defendant, said she thinks people are rushing to judgment.

“Nobody knows who did it – there’s just a lot of gossip,” she said. “This is not OK, what they are trying to charge him with.”

Similarly opposed to the idea of charging Juarez as an adult is Robert Landheer, a local attorney who, along with 13 other attorneys, signed a letter requesting that District Attorney Christie Stanley reconsider the decision. At the courthouse, Landheer said the District Attorney's Office should consider the brain development of an adolescent boy.

“The pre-frontal lobes are not fully developed, so a juvenile cannot make judgments that an adult can make,” he said. “The statute (Prop 21) is inappropriate and misplaced.”

The signed letter reads:  “Ricardo Juarez is not the problem, he like the young man who has been slain at such an early age, is also a victim of this culture of violence.”

The next court date is set for May 10. Prosecuting attorney Dozer said he hopes a date can be set then for a preliminary hearing. But defense attorney Atkins said it may be too early, because she would like to meet with the prosecution team before that happens.