Associated Press

The high school shooting case in Cold Spring has renewed the debate over the best way to handle juvenile offenders. And 15-year-old Jason McLaughlin stands at the legal crossroads -- between a juvenile court system that emphasizes treatment and an adult justice system centered around hard, long-term punishment.

McLaughlin is accused of killing one student and wounding another at Rocori High School on Sept. 24. His attorney, Dan Eller, said the state has filed paperwork to certify McLaughlin as an adult, but no hearing has been set. Eller says he's hopeful the case will stay in juvenile court, but other legal experts say there is little chance.

"Slim, very slim," said Edwin Butterfoss, a Hamline Law School professor and former dean.

"It's such a serious crime ... especially in a school setting," he said. "There's so much sensitivity to that these days."

If McLaughlin is treated as a juvenile, it would most likely be in a system that blends juvenile and adult justice. The arrangement, known as extended juvenile jurisdiction, imposes adult sentences on juveniles but allows them to be treated in the juvenile system until age 21. The sentences are stayed as long as the juvenile doesn't commit other offenses or otherwise violate conditions imposed by the judge.

Defense attorneys have argued successfully for their clients to receive extended juvenile jurisdiction in other high-profile murder cases. Attorney Mike McDonald secured that treatment for Christian Oberender, a Watertown man who killed his mother with a shotgun in 1995 at age 14.

Oberender lived in treatment centers, some of them with prisonlike security, until he was 21. He said he then spent one year in a halfway house and has since been released. Now he works at a Twin Cities-area auto parts store, and credits his sentence with allowing him to turn his life around.

"It gave me more of a chance than going to prison and just sitting," Oberender said. "I saw all kinds of psychologists and got all kinds of treatment." He was counseled on "how I can manage my behavior and not get angry over stupid stuff."

McDonald said Oberender's doctor reported that the youth had serious mental problems, including potential schizophrenia. He said the mental problems also helped convince authorities that Oberender might be more suitable for treatment than punishment.

Only a small percentage of juvenile suspects charged with felonies are transferred to the adult system or extended juvenile jurisdiction, according to the Minnesota State Court System.

Of the roughly 10,000 juvenile cases handled each year, only about 100 are sent to adult court. About 300 receive extended juvenile jurisdiction.

It's bad news for McLaughlin that the Minnesota attorney general's office, which is prosecuting him, has already filed a motion to transfer him to adult court. At this point, it's unlikely to reverse course.