10-year-old accused of killing neo-Nazi father may pursue insanity defense, his attorney says [Updated]

An attorney for a 10-year-old boy charged with murder in the fatal shooting of his father, a local neo-Nazi activist, on Wednesday told a Riverside County Juvenile Court judge that the boy may pursue a defense of not guilty by reason of insanity.

The sandy-haired boy appeared in Juvenile Court shackled and wearing a bright orange shirt and khaki pants, with his stepmother, biological mother and grandmother sitting on a courtroom bench behind him. Judge Charles J. Koosed postponed the boy’s detention hearing for two weeks and ordered that he  continue to be held at juvenile hall.

The boy has been charged as a juvenile for the shooting death of his father, Jeffrey R. Hall, a regional director for the National Socialist Movement. Hall was shot around 4 a.m. Sunday morning while on the living room couch. Detectives believe the shooting was an “intentional act."

Detectives with the Riverside Police Department said there were no reports of an argument or other incident before the shooting, and police have never responded to any domestic disturbance calls at the Hall residence. Hall, 32, has five children including two from a previous marriage.

According to court records the boy had a history of aggression and violence after his parents went through a bitter divorce, with both Hall and his ex-wife, Leticia Neal of Spokane, Wash., accusing each other of abusing and neglecting the children. Hall was granted full custody of the children.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Ambrosio E. Rodriguez said state laws protecting juveniles prohibits him from discussing the details of the case, but said the decision to charge the 10-year-old with murder was weighed by the agency’s leadership. Until the boy’s detention hearing is concluded, Rodriguez said he was also prohibited from discussing whether the boy ultimately would be prosecuted as a juvenile or an adult, or why such a serious charge was filed against him.

“To say this was a difficult decision is an understatement," Rodriquez said after Wednesday’s hearing. “Thank God patricide is not something that happens as a daily occurrence."

[Updated, 4:20 p.m.: District attorney's spokesman John Hall said Wednesday that because of the boy's age he could not be tried as an adult so the case would remain in juvenile court.]

During the hearing, public defender Matthew Hardy told the judge that he expected the case to be a “long haul" and that the defense was considering an insanity defense. No plea was entered on Wednesday.

“There are some very, very difficult issues in this case," Hardy told the judge.

Neal told the judge that she may hire a private attorney to represent her son. She declined to comment after the hearing.

Last year Neal filed for custody of her two children with Hall, the 10-year-old boy and his 9-year-old sister, saying she was concerned about the children’s well-being because of the father’s affiliation with the neo-Nazi group. Hall had opposed the motion, saying that Neal had had no contact with the children for six years.

After Wednesday’s hearing the boy requested a visitation with this stepmother and grandmother.

RELATED:

Boy charged in father's death had problems with violence and aggression

-- Phil Willon in Riverside

Photo: Jeff Hall holds a neo-Nazi flag while standing at Sycamore Highlands Park near his home in Riverside in October 2010. Credit: Sandy Huffaker / Associated Press

Comments

[Jester of the Apocalypse]

The father's politics have no bearing in this story. That being said, I hope they can delay whatever court proceedings to find out the real cause of why this boy killed his father, instead of just ruining his life further.

[basura blanca]

Just like all white people like to debase, degrade and dehumanize non-white people by referring to them as illegal and their children by calling them anchor babies, screw this kid, his father and all white supremacist racist white people! From Deborah Pauley to Marylin Davenport and this family's "Nationalist Socialist Movement" go to hell and rot in prison!

[*duh*]

The father's politics most definitely have bearing on the story. Spew the hate, get it right back at you! It's called Karma...

[Jimmy]

Politics have a huge reason in this story, what if the child is a lot smarter than he's given credit for and realized his dad was scum. That's called a vigilante, and while it is still illegal, I wouldn't mind someone being a vigilante against the Westboro Baptist Church. These freedom of speech stuff can be a crutch to people with sickening thoughts and no one can do anything about it. Let's put some reason into law. Neo-nazism should be illegal. Any group that praises hate and discrimination should be illegal. I'm sure Jester here is another one of those skinhead douchebags. We don't need you.

[lbgrrl]

You cannot try a 10 year old as an adult--come on! A 10 year old has neither the judgment nor the understanding of what he has done, as an adult would. I dont know why he did it, but he needs therapy (maybe years of it) and help. Unless he is severely disturbed, there is probably a reason (abuse, neglect, etc) that drove him to it. I am not saying it is okay or right, but there is a reason that we have juvenile courts--we hope to rehabilitate young offenders, not just throw them away. If we are holding him to the same responsibility as an adult, that is just ridiculous. BTW, I am a therapist that works with juvenile offenders.

[Ray]

The father's politics have no bearing in this story. That being said, I hope they can delay whatever court proceedings to find out the real cause of why this boy killed his father, instead of just ruining his life further.

Posted by: Jester of the Apocalypse | May 04, 2011 at 02:21 PM

-------------------------------------------------------

Jester of the Apocalypse~~~

Here's the bottom line: ONE LESS NEO-NAZI ON THE STREETS!!

[Ray]

I'd like to compare this story to the near assasination attemp of Alabama Governor George Wallace, an avowed segregationist, who ran for president as a Democrat in 1972 only to be taken down in a hail of bullets fired by not a black man nor any member of the minority group, but by a white dude named Arthur Bremer.

[Joanne]

The father was a Nazi! That is not like being a Republican, you know. That is like being a Klan member, only worse. I'm sure you will find that is at the bottom of the problem between father and son.

[johathan pitre]

i'd make a donation to this kids' defense for taking one more crazy person off this earth. three cheers for this kid!

[Cheese_Wonton]

Of course the fathers politics bear on the story. He preached violence, taught it to his family, apparently mistreated and neglected his own children, couldn't stay married and now he reaped what he sewed. Good riddance.
The kid is probably ruined for life now thanks to the filth that raised him. Charging any ten year old as an adult, regardless of the crime, says more about our own moral depravity than it does about the child in question. Whether the kid can ever function again in a normal setting is something else.

[1424jt]

'....The father's politics have no bearing in this story....'

... and I've got a real nice bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you...

[Blithe]

That DA can charge that boy for murder, but that's just the DA "doing his job"; it will be interesting to see if the DA will decide to present this case before a grand jury for indictment. If so, there is a chance that the grand jury will refuse to indict this kid.

[MK]

First Osama and then this. Good guys 2, bad guys 0.

[az66]

"The father's politics have no bearing in this story. " umm... it's not like the guy is just a libertarian or in the green party... he's a freakin' Nazi. And not just a guy with Nazi beleifs... a guy active in Nazi organizing. His kids basically had no chance of growing up to be decent normal people as long as they were in his custody. This kind of 'politics' has more in common with the Marshall Applewhite or Jim Jones crew than it does with Ralph Nader or Ron Paul. Unfortunately people tend to take the following view of their children (and wives, to a lesser extent): "They're mine and I own em, so I can do what I want with 'em". Not even under the most insane fundamentalist worldview could that possible make sense.

[victor]

This child is a victim of violence. God knows all he has to endure by living with his father. A 10 years old is not supposed to kill, but growing in a environment where violence was a daily ocurrence, it is not suprising.
Violence doesnt have to be only physical. It can be mentally as well.
God helps this kid.

[victor]

a ten years old being shackled and wearing a bright orange suit?
This shows how low this society has descended.

[Carol]

One would think that proper (proper and complete) counseling, change of household as necessary, schooling could turn around the life of a 10 year old. That anyone would even think of trying such a small child as an adult is crazy, this is why we have juvenile courts, to attempt to accommodate the special needs of children.

[Aztec Prince]

Give the kid a medal and let's all move on. Oh, and lets dump this piece of trash (Jeff Hall) in the Santa Monica Bay with the rest of the grease.

[Katie]

Was there no motive? This child wouldn't have killed his father for no reason would he? He isn't even a teenager yet!

[kathleen]

I suspect I would end up insane if my whole life experience was rooted in growing up with a nazi .
But I want to know what kind of women have kids with a nazi ?
He had 5 kids by 2 wives !

At least bin Laden's last wife was given to him when she was 15 .
( Not her choice I am sure )
Did adult women actually marry this thing of their own free will ?
What mental state would allow a woman to have kids with it ?

[anonymous]

Nice shot kid, I hope you get off.

[Aztec Prince]

Dump this piece of trash in the ocean and he can keep Bin Laden company. Give the kid a Medal.

[Bob Druwing]

Considering that this kid's father was a neo-Nazi, he should use a sanity defense.

[CMD]

Neo-Nazi certainly has a bearing on the story. It says that there is a history of intolerance, and probably violence. It says that the household was militant in nature, and not one that a child can grow in as a free thinking and individual human being. It says that the reality in the household is distorted. It says when the child sits down to dinner and does not eat his peas, his father probably shoves them down his throat. That said we now have an individual that sees murder as a reaction to his pain. The child is now someone we all have reason to be worried about.

[Anonymous]

Jeff was a good guy. Sorry to see this.