By BRIAN M. SCHLETER, Staff Writer

 A Crofton teen-ager charged with helping his 15-year-old girlfriend commit suicide last year pleaded not guilty this morning, his attorney arguing that the charges should be dropped because the law doesn't apply in his case. 

The 16-year-old entered the plea during a hearing in Juvenile Court in Annapolis, but did not contest a statement of facts entered into the record by Assistant State's Attorney Michael O. Bergeson. 

Circuit Court Judge Pamela L. North, who took the case under advisement, must rule first on Mr. Davis' motion to dismiss the assisted suicide charge. 

If the assisted suicide charge stands, she will then rule on the boy's guilt or innocence on that charge, as well as charges of reckless endangerment and illegal possession of a handgun. 

The boy's attorney, Assistant Public Defender William Davis, argued that the legislation passed in 1999 outlawing assisted suicides clearly was aimed at health-care providers, and since his client was neither a health-care provider nor the victim's caretaker, the charge should be dropped. 

Prosecutors believe the youth violated state law by providing Jennifer Garvey of Crofton with the handgun she used to kill herself on Oct. 18 in a suicide pact they entered together. 

State's Attorney Frank R. Weathersbee defended his decision to prosecute the youth at today's hearing. 

"To me it's pretty clear. If you know a person is going to commit suicide and you provide them the means to do it, you've broken the law," he said. 

Judge North has ordered The Capital and other media not to identify the youth. 

If the judge doesn't dismiss the charges, a Sept. 15 hearing will be held, at which time attorneys for the youth will argue he was not criminally responsible for his actions due to extreme emotional duress. 

Psychiatrists for both sides have found that the boy was too mentally ill at the time of the incident to keep his behavior within the law. 

Judge North would then have to decide whether to accept those findings. If so, the boy would be placed in the custody of a state mental health center. 

Several members of Miss Garvey's family attended the hearing but had no comment afterward. 

Mr. Bergeson said Miss Garvey and her boyfriend entered a network of Crofton storm drains -- known by local teens as "The Underworld" -- to end their lives together. 

The boy brought a .38-caliber handgun he stole from his father's gun cabinet and watched as Miss Garvey shot herself in the head. 

But he panicked when the gun fell into the murky water, and he fled to get help. 

Judge North placed the boy on home detention in March. 

He has since enrolled in an alternative school and has stayed free of violations, Mr. Davis said. 

Published August 30, 2000, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.

Copyright © 2000 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.