FRESNO — Maribel Cuevas, the 11-year-old Fresno girl charged with felony assault for throwing a rock at a boy who she said had pelted her with water balloons and rocks, was placed on six months informal probation Wednesday by a Juvenile Court commissioner.
The decision by Commissioner Kimberly J. Nystrom-Geist came on what would have been the first day of Maribel's trial for allegedly assaulting 8-year-old schoolmate Elijah Vang with a 2-pound rock.
Instead, the Fresno County district attorney's office backed away from its efforts to have her placed in Juvenile Hall and offered what amounted to a plea bargain, which the girl's family accepted.
Sitting next to her attorney, dressed in pink pants, pink flip flops and a white hooded top, the girl answered with a soft "yes," and had to be reminded to "answer in words" when the commissioner asked if she understood the various aspects of the proceeding.
Maribel could have been sentenced to up to four years in Juvenile Hall if found guilty of the felony charge. Her parents agreed to the district attorney's offer because Maribel did not have to admit wrongdoing, said her attorney, Richard Beshwate Jr. An earlier offer required her to admit to a misdemeanor.
"I think this was the best resolution for Maribel, the neighborhood and the community," Beshwate said. "That's what we were looking for from the beginning."
In comments before the commissioner, Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Michelle Griggs expressed a similar view, saying that "informal probation is an appropriate resolution ... so the children can co-exist in the neighborhood and at school."
The girl's parents, Martin and Guadalupe Cuevas, said they were satisfied with the resolution of the case. "Yes, justice has been done," said Maribel's father, a ranch handyman and father of six.
Elijah -- whose injury required stitches -- and his family did not attend the proceedings and could not be reached for comment.
The case of Maribel Cuevas drew national attention and sparked local protests against what some called her unfair treatment at the hands of police and the courts. When arrested in April, Maribel was handcuffed, sent to Juvenile Hall for five days and then required to wear an electronic monitoring anklet for 30 days at home.
"There's a lot of Maribels in our Juvenile Hall; they just didn't get the media attention," said the Rev. Floyd D. Harris Jr., a local activist, who organized a candlelight vigil last week in support of Maribel.
