More importantly, however, is the fact that he would have been tried as a juvenile given his age at the time. Had Sinzer been above the waiver age, then it would be appropriate for him to be tried as an adult, because even though the waiver age decreased from 14 to 12, it did so after the crime was committed.
In the case of Michael Skakel, for example, he was charged in 2002 at the age of 41 for murdering his neighbor when he was 15, and since he was above the waiver age at the time, he was tried as an adult and sentenced to 20 years in prison (Varin, 2013). Recent pressure from his relative, Robert Kennedy Jr., has caused an uproar in this case and it is being retried due to a decision by the judge that Skakel’s initial lawyer didn’t represent him effectively. Nevertheless, the initial verdict in 2002 was made because even though Skakel was a juvenile at the time, he was over the waiver age and therefore was tried as an adult, even though it was 27 years later.
Though the decision is a difficult one to make considering the unusual circumstances, using the past as precedent, Marin Sinzer should be tried in juvenile court, despite his age, due to the fact that he was a minor at the time of the