RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A boy who was only 10 when he fatally shot his white supremacist father was convicted Monday of second-degree murder by a judge who said the child knew what he did was wrong.
Riverside Superior Court Judge Jean Leonard weighed the severity of the crime versus whether the amount of abuse and neglect suffered by the boy, now 12, played a significant role in the slaying of 32-year-old Jeff Hall.
Hall was a regional leader of the National Socialist Movement. Prosecutors maintained Hall's white supremacist beliefs had nothing to do with the crime.
The blonde-haired boy, who wears glasses, showed no emotion after the verdict was read.
Defense attorney Matthew Hardy plans to appeal the judge's verdict. A sentencing hearing was set for Feb. 15. The boy could be jailed until he is 23.
©2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
