Nov 8, 2006 1:54 pm US/Pacific

CoCo Teen To Be Charged As Adult In Mom's Murder
(BCN) DANVILLE A Danville teenager suspected of bludgeoning his mother to death with an aluminum baseball bat Monday morning will be tried as an adult as soon as he is released from a psychiatric hospital, Contra Costa County Deputy District Attorney Hal Jewett said Wednesday.

No date has been set for the arraignment of Andrew Mantas, 16, in the murder of Dimitra Mantas, 43.

"We're not sure when he's going to be released from the psychiatric ward. We're in a holding pattern right now," Jewett said Wednesday morning.

Mantas' apparent psychiatric issues factored in to the decision to try him as an adult, Jewett said.

"There are obviously mental health issues we believe are more appropriately handled in the adult context," Jewett said.

While the treatment the 16-year-old would receive for any mental illness would be identical in the juvenile and adult justice systems, if convicted and sentenced as a juvenile, Mantas would be released on his 25th birthday unless prosecutors could prove he was still a danger to the community, Jewett said.

"The burden would be on us," he explained. "Under the facts of this case, it seems appropriate that the burden remains with him, his attorneys and his doctors to show he's not a danger to the community."

Other factors influencing the decision to try Mantas as an adult include the brutality of the crime and Mantas' history of contact with law enforcement and the juvenile justice system, Jewett said. He declined to discuss Mantas' past.

Jewett said the portion of the criminal code under which Mantas' case falls suggests he should be tried as an adult.

"There's actually a presumption against treating him as a juvenile against facts like these," he said.

The district attorney's office is awaiting results of Mantas' toxicology test to see if he was using drugs prior to his arrest Monday morning, Jewett added.

Police conducted a welfare check at the Mantas family home at 1:22 a.m. Monday after a neighbor called to report a commotion, Danville police Chief Chris Wenzel said. Police arriving at the home in the 3000 block of Swallow Street found Dimitra Mantas dead in a bedroom.

Andrew Mantas was arrested at the Blackhawk Country Club at 4:50 a.m. Monday and was booked into juvenile hall in Martinez on suspicion of murder, police said.

Although Dimitra Mantas had three children—two daughters and a son—Wenzel said her daughters were not home at the time of the attack.

Mantas was an active member of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension in Oakland, where she taught Sunday school. A memorial service will be held for her at 7 p.m. at the cathedral, located at 4700 Lincoln Ave., Oakland. Grief counselors will be available before and after the service, church officials said.

The church is accepting donations to a fund to support Mantas' daughters.