Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Law

Cuts in juvenile parole left teen in 'Tuba Man' case unsupervised

Edward McMichael, pictured at a game in 2004, was a beloved Seattle street musician known as the "Tuba Man.” He was found dead Nov. 3, 2008 from beating injuries he received in a robbery.
Associated Press
Edward McMichael, pictured at a game in 2004, was a beloved Seattle street musician known as the "Tuba Man.” He was found dead Nov. 3, 2008 from beating injuries he received in a robbery.

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kplu/local-kplu-975739.mp3

One of the three teens convicted of killing a popular Seattle street musician in 2008 continues to make headlines for his tangles with the law. Billy Chambers – who's now an adult – was most recently locked up for hit-and-run. It turns out he did not qualify for supervision by a juvenile parole officer because of state budget cuts.

Ed McMichael – aka "Tuba Man" – was a fixture outside Seattle's sports venues. He died in 2008 following a brutal attack by a group of teens.

Ultimately Chambers and two others pleaded guilty in the case. Chambers served one year behind bars.

Since then court records show he's racked up two theft convictions and faces multiple traffic offenses. Now he's accused of ramming his car into a woman who'd reported him to the police.

Parole policy

Prior to 2009, all kids coming out of Washington state lock-ups were placed on parole. But by the time Billy Chambers got out in 2010, budget cuts had forced an end to that practice.

Now only those juvenile offenders who score in the top 25-percent of a risk assessment qualify for parole – along with sex offenders and auto thieves.

Billy Chambers – even with a manslaughter conviction – did not make the cut.

"It's pretty stunning to me to think that someone like that would not get parole coming out," said Elinor Cromwell, a juvenile public defender in King County.

Her job is to try to minimize the restrictions placed on her clients. But she thinks state cuts to juvenile parole have gone too far.

"It's really risky to put them out into the community without parole, some way to help them acclimate to the outside world using the skills that they've learned inside because it's a very different environment," she said.

Lawmakers relied on study

However, when Washington state lawmakers decided to cut funding for juvenile parole they were looking at studies by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy. Those studies found that in the case of lower risk juveniles, parole does not seem to reduce the chances they’ll reoffend.

In lieu of parole, Washington's Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration has stepped up efforts to develop transition plans for youth offenders getting ready to leave a juvenile lock up.

On the Web:

Copyright 2011 Northwest News Network
 

Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy as well as the Washington State legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia." Prior to joining the Northwest News Network, Austin worked as a television reporter in Seattle, Portland and Boise. Austin is a graduate of Garfield High School in Seattle and Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut. Austin’s reporting has been recognized with awards from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors, Public Radio News Directors Incorporated and the Society of Professional Journalists.