The man who was 16 when he shot and paralyzed a Columbia man in 2000 wants his record wiped clean.
DeShawn Ricky Clement, now 22, is slated to appear today in Howard County Circuit Court.
Clement was found involved ? the juvenile equivalent of guilty ? in the shooting of Oscar Antonio Lopez, the paralyzed man whose case changed state law last legislative session.
Lopez?s attorney, Del. Neil Quinter, said his client had not been informed of the hearing for Clement.
“Yet again, Antonio has been ignored,” Quinter said.
“This is a case that should have never been in the juvenile system to begin with. What [Clement] did was attempted murder. That is such a serious offense that it belongs in circuit court. Expungement is not appropriate.”
The Howard County State?s Attorney?s Office opposes Clement?s motion to have his court records expunged.
Lopez, a Salvadoran immigrant, was working a minimum-wage job at a Wendy?s fast-food restaurant and was shot in an attempted robbery in 2000 as he was returning from work. The bullet from the shooting remains lodged in his spine.
Lopez was the impetus for a bill, sponsored by Quinter, that was signed into state law by Gov. Robert Ehrlich in May.
Lopez, who said the Howard County Circuit Court had denied him his rights by not consulting him during portions of Clement?s criminal proceedings, appealed his case to the Court of Appeals, Maryland?s highest court.
The Court of Appeals denied Lopez the right of appeal because Clement was a juvenile.
Quinter?s law, however, secures the right of appeal for victims of juvenile crimes.
