After a lengthy appeal process, a Duluth teenager accused of shooting two Lincoln Park store clerks in the back more than three years ago is scheduled to stand trial in April.
Steven Albert Cooper, 18, is charged with four counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault and one count of first-degree aggravated robbery in the Nov. 6, 2006, incident at the Interstate Spur station-convenience store at
2700 W. Michigan St.
Judge Mark Munger on Friday scheduled Cooper's trial to start on April 5 in St. Louis County District Court after not-guilty pleas were entered to all charges.
Cooper had just turned 15 at the time of the shootings.
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Judge Shaun Floerke ruled in May 2007 that Cooper should stand trial as an adult. Floerke determined the evidence showed that Cooper shot clerks Christopher Davis and Daniel Warner in a cold, calm and calculated manner with no warning.
Police said Cooper shot Davis three times and, when Warner tried to escape over the service counter, Cooper shot him three times. The defendant reached into a till and took money. Davis suffered a broken rib and a collapsed lung. Warner also sustained a collapsed lung. Each victim has one bullet lodged near his spine that can't be removed because surgery could cause greater damage.
The state public defender's office appealed Floerke's decision to try Cooper as an adult. The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed Floerke's decision in 2008, but the Minnesota Supreme Court asked it to take a second look based on a recent ruling about what evidence is permissible in deciding whether a juvenile case should go to adult court.
When the Court of Appeals again dismissed the appeal, Cooper petitioned the Supreme Court for further review.
The petition was denied.
The St. Louis County Attorney's Office filed a document with the court stating that it intends to seek a longer-than-guideline sentence for Cooper because the victims were particularly vulnerable -- being trapped in the counter enclosure -- and because they were treated with cruelty.
St. Louis County prosecutor Charles Schumacher on Friday argued for the enhanced sentence. He told the court that the defendant shot the victims in their workplace where they had an expectation of security. He said Warner fled the store and Cooper chased after him while shooting him in the back.
Public defender Rebecca Shaw opposed the state's motion for a longer-than guideline sentence. Shaw told the court that the cruelty of her client's alleged conduct is inherent in the charges of attempted premeditated first-degree murder and there is no basis for a longer-than-guideline sentence.
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Munger took the matter under advisement.
If the court finds that there are aggravating factors to warrant an enhanced sentence and a jury finds Cooper guilty, a second phase of the trial would be held for jurors to decide if the defendant should receive a longer sentence.
