The teenager charged with the murder and rape of an Ewa Beach woman is scheduled to appear in court again tomorrow.

Vernon Bartley, 16, appeared in Honolulu District Court yesterday in shackles. His bail for release was confirmed at $500,000.

Family Court jurisdiction was waived over the case against Bartley, who was 15 when he allegedly raped and killed 51-year-old Karen Ertell on May 25 last year.

He has been charged with first- and second-degree murder, second-degree sexual assault, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, auto theft, unauthorized computer access, unauthorized possession of confidential information, credit card theft and fraudulent use of a credit card.

Bartley is accused of strangling Ertell after he “;lay in wait”; at her Ewa Beach home's carport. Ertell also was scheduled to testify in an unrelated burglary case against Bartley. One element of first-degree murder is killing a witness.

His attorney, Jeffrey Hawk, said in the past, youth offenders have been put in solitary confinement, away from the rest of the adult inmates.

“;By federal law, there will be sight and sound restrictions,”; Hawk said. “;So he will not be put in with the general population.”;

Bartley is scheduled to appear in District Court again tomorrow afternoon for a preliminary hearing.

Hawk would not specify his defense strategy, but has hinted that he hopes to make an issue out of how “;every child is a product of his environment and his family.”;

He added yesterday, “;There are factors that have driven this case that were not brought to light. There are a lot of reasons that this did happen.”;

Since 1997, 66 Family Court waivers have been granted statewide for juveniles to be tried as adults. Of that figure, 24 were for charges related to murder and attempted murder.

The only Oahu case in which a waiver in a murder case was rejected involved a juvenile charged with murder in a 2000 beating case, according to that youth's lawyer, Keith Shigetomi. The boy was later found guilty in Family Court of a lesser charge.