One of two teens accused of murdering Nohema Graber, a Fairfield High School Spanish teacher, was in court Friday to ask a Jefferson County judge to transfer his case to juvenile court.
Willard Noble Chaiden Miller, 16, is charged with first-degree murder.
Defense attorney Christine Branstad filed several photos of Miller, who goes by his middle name Chaiden, along with numerous letters from friends, neighbors, and teachers.
"He worked hard at work, he was polite," Branstad paraphrases one for Judge Shawn Showers Friday. "The next letter, 'compassionate', 'kind', 'helpful', 'affectionate' and gave repeated examples throughout that letter."
Dr. Craig Rypma, a clinical psychiatrist the defense hired to evaluate Miller, says he shows a level of compassion he doesn't always see in young offenders.
“He’s a kid," Dr. Rypma says. "He’s a kid who needs redirecting right now.”
Dr. Rypma recommended Miller be transferred to juvenile court, advising placing him with "hardened criminals" in prison would stunt any potential for positive change. He says Miller is a good student with a 2.84 GPA who has the best ability to rehabilitate in the next year to 18 months, though he added treatment could be effective in as few as six months.
"Length of time is not the factor, it’s how capable they are at achieving change," Dr. Rypma says.
He says Miller's brain is still developing at its most rapid rate, which occurs between ages 12 to 18, and that he could lose motivation to change or become more set in his behavior patterns if treatment is delayed into his 20s.
"I think that in fact the community would lose, they would lose the opportunity for Chaiden really ever to contribute back to his community," Dr. Rypma says of sending Miller to adult prison.
"What Dr. Rypma failed to mention or address is what the community has already lost based on the alleged action of Chaiden Miller," says Jefferson County attorney Chauncey Moulding.
Prosecutors took issue with the fact Dr. Rypma didn't do a full psychiatric evaluation, which he testified isn't valid for juvenile offenders given their brain development and rapid change. The prosecution also questioned why the defense requested Dr. Rypma not complete a written report he testified he'd started writing.
Karen Dennler, a juvenile court officer who also testified during a reverse waiver hearing for Jeremy Goodale, 17, did complete a written report. However, as in Goodale's case, she says she wasn't able to meet Miller as she normally would in a juvenile case.
Her report, the state says, advises there's no reasonable prospect of rehabilitating Miller before he turns 18. In the juvenile system, Dennler explains, Miller would be released after he turns 18 or after he earns his high school equivalency.
"He could go through the program and do well and come back into the community and reoffend," Dennler said when asked how long treatment could take. "We don't know what's going to happen, we don't have that crystal ball. All I know is that we only have a set amount of time to work with this person and it's not enough time for a forcible felony."
Under Iowa law, anyone 16 and older accused of a forcible felony like murder is automatically waived to district court.
Branstad says Miller's lack of school or juvenile court discipline records, plus the affirmations of his good character in filed letters, proves this was an instance where "something went wrong, not an unfixable person."
In fact, the only disciplinary report Dennler says she found was for having a phone in class. She only marked it as significant, she says, because it was in Graber's classroom.
"The best prospects for rehabilitation are now, not waiting until he's in his 20s," Branstad says.
Judge Shawn Showers did not give a timeline on when he could rule on Miller's reverse waiver. There's still no decision on whether Goodale, the other teen accused of Graber's murder, could be transferred to juvenile court.