Defendant in death of Modesto teen Tylor Crippen goes back to adult court after ruling
A man who killed Modesto teen Tylor Crippen at an east Modesto park in 2013 has been transferred to adult court and won’t be released from prison anytime soon.
He will, however, be resentenced and does still have the opportunity to become eligible for parole sooner than his current sentence calls for.
Taylor Koplen, along with Juan Garcia and Jacob Segura, attacked Crippen following a botched robbery of Crippen and his girlfriend, Brittany Waldo. Crippen was beaten and stabbed to death.
Koplen, who was 17 at the time of the murder, was tried and convicted as an adult. But a voter-approved law that went into effect after he and his co-defendants were sentenced resulted in his case being remanded back to juvenile court and gave him a chance at a drastically reduced juvenile sentence.
But Judge Ruben Villalobos on Thursday issued a ruling that transferred Koplen’s case back to adult court, upholding his adult conviction.
Crippen and Waldo had been out for a walk by Creekwood Park on the evening of Jan. 29, 2013, when the group approached them and asked for a cigarette. During the trial, the prosecution presented evidence that identified Koplen as the assailant who then punched Crippen in the back. The other two chased Crippen as he ran away. Koplen threatened Waldo with a knife before joining his friends and stabbing Crippen to death, according to the prosecution.
The jury was never asked to make a finding as to who the stabber was, and Villalobos didn’t make that finding in his ruling, either, but he wrote that evidence presented at Koplen’s transfer hearing showed he was a major participant in the attack on Crippen and Waldo.
“The court further finds that the manner in which Koplen committed the crime showed criminal sophistication, in that it was done in concert, that it started with a ruse to lower the victims’ guard, and that Koplen took efforts to hide the murder weapon and evade capture,” Villalobos wrote in his ruling. “This was not a crime of opportunity, but rather an orchestrated attack in which Koplen was at least a major participant.”
Crippen’s mother, Violet Crippen, said Thursday she was relieved by his decision but anxious for the resentencing.
After being convicted of Crippen’s murder, Koplen and Segura were both sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and Garcia was sentenced to 28 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Segura was 18 at the time of the murder, so his life sentence remains unchanged.
New laws for juvenile offenders
But since the sentencing, changes in law that applies to juvenile offenders afforded new opportunities for Koplen and Garcia, who was 16.
New case law and legislation required that youthful offenders with life sentences must have the opportunity for parole after their 25th year of incarceration.
Also, in November 2016, California voters approved Proposition 57, which, among other things, shifted to the court the authority to decide if a minor can be prosecuted as an adult. Before that, prosecutors could “direct file” on minors, charging and prosecuting them as adults for certain violent crimes.
Proposition 57 was only partially retroactive, applying to minors whose cases had not been adjudicated or to those who had been convicted but were still pending appeal.
Koplen and Garcia were among just a few juvenile offenders in Stanislaus County to which the latter applied. As a result, their cases went back to juvenile court where the prosecution must make a case for transfer back to adult court.
Garcia’s transfer hearing is scheduled for February.
With the ruling in Koplen’s case, he now awaits resentencing under the new laws for juvenile offenders.
His attorney Martin Baker said the judge who will sentence Koplen will consider factors very similar to those presented during the transfer hearing, like the sophistication and gravity of the offense, his criminal history and attempts at rehabilitation before and after the offense.
He said if the judge sentences Koplen to 25 years to life in prison instead of the original life sentence, he would become eligible for parole sooner because he would only have to serve 80 percent of the 25 years before becoming eligible.
Baker said recent legislation pertaining to juvenile offenders “appears to be part of a continuing nationwide trend in the criminal justice system based on an increasing appreciation of the reduced culpability of youthful offenders due to their immaturity and other youth-related factors.”
“This trend began in 2005 with the abolition of the death penalty for minors by the Supreme Court in Roper v. Simmons,” he said.
Koplen’s sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 15.
This story was originally published January 11, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
