The attorney for a former Parkland High School student accused of slapping a teacher in April 2024 will again ask a judge to dismiss charges against his client or return the case to juvenile court, court records show.
Andrew Keever, the attorney for Aquavis Spaugh Hickman of Winston-Salem, filed his motion in early July.
A judge will consider Keever's request at a hearing at 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 8 in Forsyth Superior Court.
Hickman was 17 when he was charged with second-degree kidnapping, assault on a government official and communicating threats in the April 2024 incident, the Forsyth County District Attorney's Office said.
Hickman, who is now 18, is accused of illegally restraining the teacher for the purpose of terrorizing her. Hickman also is accused of threatening to kill the teacher.
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Hickman also faces a second, second-degree kidnapping charge in connection with illegally restraining a male teacher on Feb. 1, 2024, at Parkland, the district attorney's office said.
Hickman is accused of threatening to harm the male teacher and joining two other people to cause a riot at the school, the district attorney's office said. That incident happened in the school's bus parking lot.
In July 2024, Judge Richard Gottlieb of Forsyth Superior Court denied Hickman's appeal and rejected the teen's request to return his case to juvenile court.
Gottlieb ruled that Hickman will be tried as an adult, saying that transferring Hickman's case to superior court didn't violate Hickman's constitutional rights.
During that hearing, Keever argued that Hickman's constitutional rights were violated when his case was transferred, and when a Forsyth County grand jury indicted him in the slapping incident, Keever said.
In a court document, Keever argues the state law that allows Hickman to be tried as an adult violates his client's constitutional rights.
Graphic video of the incident, which shows the teacher calmly sitting in a chair as she was slapped, threatened and called names, went viral.
Hickman is free after posting a $20,000 bond. He is enrolled in a charter school in Winston-Salem, Keever has said.
The video of the incident was widely circulated on social media, and it was reported on by media statewide and nationally, Keever said.
In the 38-second video of the April 2024 incident, a student smacks the teacher in the face, approaches her desk and asks: "Want me to hit you again?"
"I don't want it," the teacher said.
The student hits the teacher again, sending the teacher's glasses flying.
"Ain't nobody coming," the student said in a sing-song voice as he walked to the back of the room. "You just got slapped. Go back to teaching."
The teacher remained seated during the entire time of the recorded incident.
Shortly after, video of the incident started to spread on social media. The teacher declined medical treatment and reported to work the next day.
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