The case of a Waukesha teen charged with sexually assaulting an 87-year-old will remain in adult court for now

WAUKESHA - A tangle of legal issues still surrounds the sexual assault case involving Khalil Perry, the 14-year-old-boy accused of attacking an 87-year-woman outside the Waukesha Public Library last fall.

How they play out is still uncertain, though a decision by a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge will allow the adult court case to continue for now — but not as originally planned.

Faced with the knowledge that an appeal filing was still pending over the juvenile court's recent decision to waive the proceedings into adult court, Judge Jennifer Dorow on Wednesday denied a defense motion to stay trial proceedings in the case.

The fact that an appeal had not yet been filed made such a motion inappropriate — for the moment, Dorow said. Perry's attorney could opt to refile a motion to delay the adult case after that appeal is filed.

In court Wednesday, defense attorney Nicole Ostrowski reiterated that she intended to file what's known as an interlocutory appeal Thursday. It's an effort to get the courts to review juvenile court Judge Maria Lazar's April 28 decision, which Ostrowski contends put too much weight on the seriousness of the allegations and not enough on other factors favoring the case remain in juvenile court.

Perry, of Waukesha, was charged in December in the alleged sexual assault, robbery, kidnapping and carjacking of the woman, who was dropping off her books at the automated return machine outside the library on Nov. 30.

According to both the juvenile petition and the adult court criminal complaint, Perry approached her car, became "enraged" for some unspecified reason, then held a knife to her throat as he forced her into the passenger seat and drove off.

The sexual assault happened within a few blocks of the library before Perry drove off with her car, cellphone and wallet, according to court documents. He was arrested shortly thereafter after police spotted him driving the victim's car.

The nature of the allegations, especially the age of the victim, was the primary reason cited by Lazar for waiving the proceedings into adult court. Ostrowski argued that other criteria, including superior treatment Perry could receive in the juvenile justice system, outweighed that sole reason.

On Wednesday, Ostrowski stressed those concerns and argued that criminal proceedings in the adult system could do "irreparable harm" to Perry if the case was later moved back to juvenile court.

One factor, though not explicitly stated by Ostrowski, is that adult court proceedings are open to the public. Juvenile court proceedings and related documents require special access, granted on a case-by-case basis, particularly for media coverage.

"I think (staying the adult proceedings) makes the most sense," Ostrowski said. "And if the (state) Court of Appeals were to agree with our position that the waiver decision was incorrect and Mr. Perry should have remained in juvenile court, this would allow him to have those issues protected in the broadest sense and allow us to proceed in a fashion without making a mess of things."

But Michael Thurston, a Waukesha County deputy district attorney, disagreed, arguing that her efforts to stay court proceedings goes against criteria in state law and previous court cases. He also challenged how continuing the adult case would cause irreparable harm.

"I certainly don't embrace that view," Thurston said. "I'm of the opinion that Judge Lazar ... studied the law, studied the facts, listened carefully to both sides, understood the gravity of this and waived him over considering all those factors."

He also "hotly contests" defense claims that there would be not substantial harm to the other parties, particularly the 87-year-old victim, and to the public's interests, suggesting that long delays in bringing the case to trial could jeopardize the state's case given her age.

Dorow sided with the state's argument on a technicality.

"I'm guided by the plain language of (state law) which directs this court to only exercise its discretion during the pendency of an appeal," Dorow said. "That has not happened as of today."

She said the issue of whether such an appeal should be considered likely to succeed, another criteria Dorow could consider, is also unclear for the moment, but she invited Ostrowski to refile her motion once the appeal has been formally submitted.

Dorow agreed to cancel a May 13 preliminary hearing and instead scheduled a status hearing for May 18 to try again to untangle the issues.

Contact Jim Riccioli at (262) 446-6635 or james.riccioli@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jariccioli.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Waukesha teen charged in library sex assault remains in adult court