Accused Rapists Defense Wants Clients to Stay in Family Court

A hearing to determine if two Morristown men currently in family court will be tried as adults for an alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl has been adjourned until early November.

Morris County Superior Court Family Division Judge Michael Paul Wright on Tuesday set a conference call among the attorneys for Nov. 2 to determine if prosecutors will be willing to drop a request for the two men—who were 17 in September 2011, when they and 19-year-old Tyrec Philips, also of Morristown, are accused of having sexually assaulting a girl after having given something to drink that made her fall in and out of consciousness—to be tried as adults.

The two men in family court have not been named because of their ages at the time of the alleged incident.

If convicted as adults, the men could face up to 20 years in prison, compared to the maximum juvenile sentence of four years.

The judge said if no agreement is reached, he would schedule a hearing for either Nov. 5 or Nov. 9. In the meantime, Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Samantha DeNegri and defense attorneys Randy Davenport and  Dean Magliore will continue talking.

The two men, now 18, remain in the Morris County Juvenile Detention  Center while their trial status is determined. Their parents and attorneys have lobbied unsuccessfully on several occasions for them to be released to house arrest. Philips, the only adult at the time of the alleged incident, .