By BOB SMITH
rsmith@soundpublishing.com
Attorneys for Gabriel Gaeta, accused of raping and murdering a young neighbor girl in 2014, will appear before Court Judge Jennifer Forbes next Monday to argue that their defendant should receive a sentence of 25 years to life rather than life imprisonment because he was under 18 when the crime was committed.
The court hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. on July 18 in Kitsap County Superior Court.
The defendant’s attorneys will argue that an automatic life imprisonment sentence is unconstitutional. Gaeta, who was charged as an adult with aggravated first-degree murder for the slaying of Jenise Wright, was just over four months shy of being 18 when he allegedly raped and murdered the girl.
Defense attorneys Roger Hunko and Jeniece LaCrosse plan to argue that previous case law has clearly interpreted the state legislature’s statute regarding a juvenile between 16 and 17 charged with first-degree aggravated murder can only be sentenced to a minimum term of 25 years to life. A longer minimum sentence, including up to life without parole, also could be ruled in such a case.
Gaeta’s attorneys previously indicated that if they were unsuccessful in Superior Court, they may appeal her decision to the Court of Appeals and the State Supreme Court.
Gaeta allegedly raped and murdered Wright, 6, in East Bremerton. Jenise’s body was found in the woods near Steele Creek Mobile Home Park on Aug. 7, 2014, where she and Gaeta were neighbors, four days after her parents reported the child missing.
Authorities say the defendant’s DNA matched samples taken from the crime scene, leading to his arrest on Aug. 10, 2014. A search warrant served at his home that day led to the discovery of bloodstained clothes, including a pair of underwear, a shirt and a pair of shorts, as well as a bloody towel, according to the certificate of probable cause submitted by Detective Elizabeth Gundrum of the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office.
Gaeta’s trial has been delayed until October and could possibly be pushed to a later date if the sentencing issue isn’t resolved.
