Court message draws a warning

While the attorney for a suspected Red Wing murder accomplice argued for his client’s release, a supporter of the suspect had a courtroom message she also wanted to deliver.

The woman, seated directly behind 16-year-old Julian Smith, wore a belt Wednesday that bailiffs said electronically flashed an obscene two-word message. She was warned by a bailiff not to wear the belt again during future court proceedings.

A family member said after the hearing that the belt’s message was in regard to “the situation.”

First District Judge Kevin Mark denied a request Wednesday to free Smith from Minnesota Correctional Facility-Red Wing and place him under electronic home monitoring at his mother’s home.

“His mom would certainly appreciate that,” public defender Timothy Lee said at the hearing.

Prosecutors have accused Smith of being an accomplice in the Jan. 20 shooting death of Luis Orlando Galicia Mijangos. The Red Wing man was found shot in the chest in an alley one block from local law enforcement headquarters and the Goodhue County Justice Center.

Mark ordered Smith to remain incarcarated at the juvenile facility.

Prosecutors are also seeking Smith’s fingerprints for evidence after state investigators found prints on the victim’s vehicle.

Goodhue County Attorney Stephen Betcher said he also hopes to take prints as evidence from alleged accomplice William Lawton, 19, and Marvin Griffith, 19, the alleged shooter in the case.

Both Griffith and Lawton are scheduled to appear in court on Friday.

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