Waste of time today; it was an arraignment, not a trial

[TerryJ2]

Arrrgh. I guess we don't know anything about the legal system.
They gave us a date of August 21, and asked if we wanted a court-appointed atty. We said we were waiving that right and the judge said it's a felony, you have to use one for difficult child.
husband spoke up and said he wanted to hire one. I know the person he has in mind. I was soooo trying not to get this person involved.
Anyway, the judge said that it's grand larceny and difficult child could get a year in juv detention.
difficult child was really shocked.
Good.
Now, 3 more wks to wait ...

I have a stomach ache ...

 

[DammitJanet]

First court date is always the arraignment for a felony. It is going to take a quite a bit of time. Dont think this is going to be quick process.

 

[pasajes4]

I hope you can find some stress relief in all of this. I hope this dose of reality helps difficult child think in action= possible consequences mode in the future.

 

[TerryJ2]

Me, too. Except that the minute we walked in the door, he asked, "Can L come over?"

 

[DDD]

Those of us who have unfortunate enough to deal with "the system" often believed the process would serve as a walke up call for our difficult child's, that the authorities were of a like mind in their intentions, and that a close call or scare would alter the path for the difficult child's future. Honestly I have not seen a positive outcome in more than max twenty percent of the cases.

Although I don't want to be negative about the situation don't lose sight of the fact that being adjudicated a felon is not a temporary or minor remedial action. on the other hand I am sending caring hugs your way. DDD

 

[klmno]

I don't think it's a year in juvie he can get- I think the max time in detention is either 45 or 60 days. Longer than that either requires a post-d program (usually 9 mos) or commitment to Department of Juvenile Justice. Make sure you get an attny who us used to working in the juvie courts so they don't go in expecting the "trial" to go like adult court. They could have held him in detention until the court dtae but since they didn't, I could almost bet blood he won't get committed or even detention- he'll get probation. If he does his 6 mos - 1 yr probation without incedent, he'll probably get the charge dropped at the end of that period. Now, just pray for a good PO that doesn't make your life crazy and order services that involve someone who tells you stuff like hug him more and make his favorite foods more often. Also, prepare to have a social hx taken and his sd records to be reviewed which will be a strong possibility after the next court date.

 

[klmno]

PS He won't be considered a felon no matter what because he's a minor. The law in this state says "would be a felony if committed by an adult". He's harged with an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult. Even E isn't considered a felon and will be allowed to vote at 18yo. Now, due to be adjudicated a juvenile delinquent, he won't be able to own or carry a firearm until 10 yrs after his last offense or until the age of 29yo, whichever comes last or first (I can't remember) but no big deal in my book. He can work for the government and could possibly be a cop if he wanted to and kept himself out of trouble a certain amount of yeaars. He would need a waiver to go into the military but it is possible. Sooooo, it's not as bad as it seems long term. That's a good thing considering how many males end up in the juvenile system in this state these days.

The worst thing- a juvenile with a felony offense doesn't get the record expunged in this state- ever. However, it isn't open to the public unless it was transferred to adult court which won't happen in this case. The only people who can get to it and find it are police, FBI for background checks, etc.

I have spent countless hours researching state juvie laws.

 

[TerryJ2]

Thanks, KLMNO. I thought his record would be wiped clean, no matter what.
I want him to spend a few days in juvie, but not to have his conviction make him ineligible for some programs I still have in mind.
We'll see.

 

[DDD]

I'm not sure exactly which State or region handles the issue in the same way as our region but we made a big mistake when difficult child#1 was charged as a juvenile. Our decision was primarily based on economics but we were not told that juvie conviction access was available to the local police quite easily. We erred and figured a felony conviction was no big deal for a first time kid offender.

Every policeman in town had the information and used it to make difficult child embarrassed (possibly intimidated but he would never admit it). Around here they stop cars with teens on bogus "helpful" patterns like "oh did you know your right tail light flickers? and by the way can we see everyones ID's?" Then "oh, difficult child, you have a record don't you? etc" He was identified that way in front of countless dates, easy child's and alot of difficult child friends.

The BIG problem arose when he was 18 and gave permission for the police to inspect his unoccupied car and there were less than ten pills albeit Rx pills in his car and he was charged with a felony. Before his Court date he had the brain surgery etc. etc. and when Court came the DA insisted he had to be adjudicated as a Felon because he had a felony conviction as a juvenile. Thus a non-violent difficult child will never vote, can not get employment etc. because we did not fight the juvie conviction...thinking it would be no huge deal. Ideally none of us expect our kids to ever get in trouble with the law or make poor decisions but...it happens and it can have bigger consequences than anticipated.
At least around here it can. DDD

 

[klmno]

DDD is right about it putting the kid on the cops' radar- that happened with E, too and others I've heard about ITRW. But, as far as felony, delinquency, etc laws, those vary greatly by state. Unless E is specifically asked if he has ever been convicted for a felony offense as a juvenile, authorities (even in Department of Juvenile Justice) directed him to say "No". He is not a felon. Again, the bad side in this state is that those records are not expunged. You can google that and find it, Terry, but make sure you are looking at this state's law and regarding juveniles. Now I will say that I requested any and all charges E was ever charged with that were felonies to be dropped to misdemeanors because it does make a huge difference if he's ever in court again or girlfriend, committed to Department of Juvenile Justice, and it makes a difference with the sd. Two of his were not reduced but one is almost neglible because he did it before he turned 14yo so that gets classed differently. The other was grand larceny for robbing me in my sleep. Apparently in this state, even if it's a low amount of money, if the money is robbed off a person's body directly, it's grand larceny (always a felony) even if it's $5. That was why he get sent to Department of Juvenile Justice this second time. He was sent to Department of Juvenile Justice the first time over numerous misdemeanors- much to peoples' (even the sd) disbelief.

 

[TerryJ2]

Ewww, DDD!
Thank you, Klmno. Yes that is a shocker ... but I guess it was the history, rather than the scope of the crime, that did it.