Woman gets sentencing break in Ecstasy death

A judge ruled Wednesday that Donalydia Huertas, 19, will be sentenced in juvenile court after her conviction in the overdose death of 16-year-old Danielle McCarthy of Puyallup. The decision clears the way for Huertas to receive a standard sentencing range of up to 30 days in a juvenile jail, instead of the nearly 5-½ years in an adult prison that she could have faced if sentenced in adult court.

By Jennifer Sullivan

Seattle Times staff reporter

Danielle McCarthy's parents, Patrick and Lisa McCarthy, console each other. They had sought a long sentence for Donalydia Huertas, who gave their daughter a fatal dose of Ecstasy.

MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

EVERETT — For more than a year and a half, the drug-overdose death of 16-year-old Danielle McCarthy has loomed over two Puyallup families.

While McCarthy's family and Snohomish County prosecutors sought a lengthy prison term for Donalydia Huertas, the woman who gave McCarthy the fatal dose of Ecstasy, Huertas has claimed the death was an accident and her attorney has fought for her to serve a short stint in a juvenile jail.

On Wednesday, the case neared its end in Huertas' favor. A Snohomish County judge ruled that Huertas will be sentenced in juvenile court, a decision that clears the way for the 19-year-old to receive a standard sentencing range of up to 30 days in a juvenile jail, instead of the nearly 5-½ years in an adult prison that she could have faced if sentenced in adult court.

Huertas, 19 and a recent high-school graduate, and her crowd of nearly 30 supporters cried and embraced after Superior Court Judge Ellen Fair's decision. Wayne Fricke, Huertas' attorney, was quick to say that it was "a sad case" and that nobody was celebrating.

Patrick and Lisa McCarthy, Danielle's parents, quickly left the courtroom.

"Danielle's life in the state of Washington is worth zero to 30 days. I would have died for her," Lisa McCarthy said later.

Fair said Huertas acted with "stupidity" by not coming to McCarthy's aid when the girl was overdosing. But since then, Fair said, Huertas has "gained some maturity."

The judge said the case has been "atypical" because judges are normally asked to move cases between the two courts before a defendant is convicted, not after. Fair said she struggled to find any court precedent to guide her while weighing her decision.

Huertas was 17 when McCarthy died on Jan. 1, 2007. She was initially charged with controlled-substance homicide in juvenile court. But prosecutors later amended the charge to the more severe first-degree manslaughter, and the case was transferred to adult court.

In June, however, a jury acquitted her of first-degree manslaughter and found her guilty of the lesser charges of controlled-substance homicide and second-degree manslaughter, which opened the possibility that the case could be moved back to juvenile court for sentencing — a decision made by Fair on Wednesday.

McCarthy was pronounced dead at Stevens Hospital in Edmonds after she spent hours overdosing, according to witnesses.

The night before, McCarthy, Huertas and David Morris drove from Puyallup to parties on the University of Washington's Greek Row and in Edmonds. Witnesses said that during the evening, McCarthy had taken Ecstasy that Huertas bought from Morris, according to charging papers.

But after taking a second tablet, McCarthy grew sick, the charging papers say.

Around 4 a.m., McCarthy was incoherent and drifting in and out of consciousness while at a house party in Edmonds. When someone tried to awaken McCarthy about two hours later, the girl's face was cold and her lips were blue.

While Huertas told police she did what she could to save her friend, prosecutors said that Huertas ordered people not to help McCarthy. Huertas and Morris eventually drove McCarthy to the hospital.

Morris, 21, has since pleaded guilty to controlled-substance homicide and will serve part of his nearly five-year sentence in drug treatment.

Deputy Prosecutor Coleen St. Clair said that when Huertas is sentenced on Aug. 25, she will be seeking an exceptional sentence for juveniles in the state of Washington — incarceration until the defendant is 21.

"Miss Huertas, more than any other defendant I have ever seen, has shown a lack of remorse," St. Clair said during Wednesday's hearing. "She clearly does not understand she has done anything wrong in this case."

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com

Puyallup teen’s sentence range to be debated

DIANA HEFLEY;   The (Snohomish County) Herald

Judge to rule whether Puyallup teen should be sentenced as an adult in Ecstasy death

Published: Wednesday, June 25, 2008

By Diana Hefley
Herald Writer

EVERETT -- A judge is expected to decide today if prosecutors get a chance to argue that a Puyallup teenager should be sentenced as an adult in the Ecstasy overdose death of a classmate.

A jury on Friday convicted Donalydia Huertas, 18, of controlled substance homicide and second-degree manslaughter in the 2007 death of Danielle McCarthy. Jurors threw out the first-degree manslaughter charge leveled against Huertas.

A conviction of first-degree manslaughter would have guaranteed that Huertas be sentenced in adult court. Instead the verdict raised questions about who has jurisdiction to sentence Huertas -- juvenile or adult court.

Huertas was 17 at the time of the crimes. She initially was charged in juvenile court with controlled substance homicide. When plea negotiations broke down, prosecutors added the first- degree manslaughter charge, and moved the case into adult court, where her trial was conducted.

Since she was convicted of the lesser charge, the door now is open to the possibility Huertas be sentenced as a juvenile, her attorney Wayne Fricke said.

That could mean the difference between a month or two in a juvenile detention facility or years in a state prison.

Today's hearing will determine if prosecutors get a shot to argue why juvenile court should decline to sentence Huertas and the authority be passed to adult court.

Prosecutors believe the offense was so egregious that Huertas should be treated as an adult. They also point to the disparity between the sentences for a juvenile and an adult offender. Co-defendant David Morris, 21, who pleaded guilty to controlled substance homicide, was sentenced to nearly five years in prison. He'll be allowed to spend half of the time seeking drug treatment outside jail.

Huertas' culpability was much greater and her sentence should reflect that, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Coleen St. Clair said.

Huertas' attorney Fricke has disagreed, telling jurors Huertas was a teenager who didn't understand the gravity of the situation, and Morris sold the drugs, he said.

McCarthy overdosed on Ecstasy during a New Year's Eve celebration. She showed signs of overdosing for more than eight hours before she was taken to Stevens Hospital in Edmonds on Jan. 1, 2007.

Huertas remains free on bail. She likely won't be sentenced until later this summer.



Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.

Juvenile or adult? Teen waits for answer

Woman to be sentenced as juvenile in Ecstasy death; family 'appalled'                                     

By Diana Hefley, Herald Writer

EVERETT -- Her life was priceless to them.

Danielle McCarthy's parents heard something different in a courtroom on Wednesday.

"Danielle's life, in the state of Washington, is worth zero to 30 days. I would have died for her," the teen's mother, Lisa McCarthy, said. "For this to be the end result, I'm appalled. I'm appalled by the way we've been treated."

The Puyallup teenager who gave McCarthy, 16, Ecstasy and stood by as the drug ended the girl's life, could escape spending any time in jail after a ruling handed down Wednesday in Snohomish County Superior Court.

A judge ordered that Donalydia Huertas, 18, be sentenced in juvenile court in the 2007 overdose death. A jury convicted Huertas in June of controlled substance homicide and second-degree manslaughter.

Huertas provided McCarthy with Ecstasy during a night of partying between Puyallup, Seattle and Edmonds. She discouraged other partygoers to summon medical aid for McCarthy, who showed signs of overdosing for hours. McCarthy was eventually taken to Stevens Hospital in Edmonds, where doctors determined she had died.

Although she was tried and convicted in adult court, Huertas got a break on punishment because of the jury's verdict and her age at the time of the crime.

Huertas could have faced nearly six years in prison. Under juvenile rules, her standard sentence could be between zero and 30 days in juvenile detention.

Superior Court Judge Ellen Fair told Huertas that the teen showed lack of judgment and stupidity the night McCarthy died. The judge also said she believes there is likelihood that Huertas can be rehabilitated.

"I think Ms. Huertas is on the road to recognizing her responsibility in the whole sad state of affairs," Fair said.

Huertas, who remains free on bail, is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 25.

Co-defendant David Morris, 21, who sold the Ecstasy to Huertas, pleaded guilty to controlled substance homicide in November. He was sentenced to nearly five years in prison. Under a drug-offender alternative sentence, he will be allowed to spend about half his sentence seeking drug treatment outside prison.

Snohomish County prosecutors say they will ask that Huertas be locked up until she is 21. They argued that a regular juvenile sentence would be a manifest injustice.

"The fact that she's shown no remorse, not even a hint that she's done anything wrong, makes her a danger to the community," Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Coleen St. Clair said.

She argued that a sentence in the juvenile system wouldn't provide time enough to protect the community. Huertas won't be required to be supervised by the state Department of Corrections under juvenile sentencing, St. Clair said.

Huertas' attorney Wayne Fricke said his client is remorseful and working hard to make amends. Huertas underwent drug and alcohol counseling and continues to see a mental health provider, he said.

"She's climbing up the ladder. We should applaud that," Fricke said.

Prosecutors initially charged Huertas in juvenile court with controlled substance homicide. The case was moved to adult court after plea negotiations broke down and Huertas was charged with first-degree manslaughter. That offense automatically sent the case to adult court.

The jury could not agree on first-degree manslaughter charge. Instead, they convicted Huertas of the lesser second-degree manslaughter charge. That crime on its own was not serious enough to keep the case in adult court.

Huertas was 17 at the time she gave Ecstasy to McCarthy. She turns 19 today .

The juvenile court considers a number of factors in its decision to decline jurisdiction, including the protection of the community and the likelihood the offender can be rehabilitated in the juvenile detention system.

St. Clair on Wednesday argued that Huertas committed a serious crime that cost a girl her life, yet Huertas had engaged in a campaign to portray herself as the victim. She and her friends harassed witnesses to the point one girl was forced to get a protection order against Huertas, St. Clair said.

Huertas left messages on McCarthy's MySpace page denying that she did anything wrong the night her classmate overdosed on Ecstasy, St. Clair said.

Huertas wrote to McCarthy's family, telling them she gave up her own partying that night to help their daughter, court documents said. She chastised McCarthy's family for casting blame, prosecutors wrote.

"Sorry if any of this hurts but put yourself in my shoes. You and your family have put me through hell and I am still here cause I know Danielle has been with me," Huertas allegedly wrote online. "She told me to brush it off cause ONE day they will realize they were wrong."

Fricke dismissed the bulk of the online postings, saying they were not directly written by Huertas but by people she knew. Huertas couldn't be held responsible for the actions of others, he said.

Fricke said Huertas was the target of a smear campaign since McCarthy's death. She was forced to leave school and was harassed. Huertas was working at a restaurant when someone threw red wine on her and called her a murderer, he said. She has attempted suicide, according to testimony Wednesday.

Fair said she had to balance the proven facts of the crime against the emotions surrounding a young person's death.

While the e-mail exchanges between Huertas and her friends are disturbing and offensive, Fair said she believes Huertas is sorry for McCarthy's death.

The judge also said she understands Patrick and Lisa McCarthy's desire to see Huertas receive the maximum sentence.

Patrick and Lisa McCarthy said the judge had an opportunity to send a strong message to young people about the consequences of drug use. Instead, Wednesday's decision only shows that there's no real punishment, Patrick McCarthy said.

"I believe today's decision wasn't right," he said. "It's putting all kids in jeopardy."

Despite the decision, the McCarthys say they will continue to bring attention to the crime of controlled substance homicide -- for their daughter.

"If there's an overdose death, someone is guilty," Patrick McCarthy said.

Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.