Juvenile Law
Mr. Grupenhagen handles Orange County Juvenile cases, if you
need an Orange County Juvenile Lawyer, call today. Lamoreaux
Justice Center in Orange is the juvenile court in Orange County,
where all matters other than infractions are handled for those
persons under 18 years of age. California is in agreement
with many states in that children and their needs are different
from adults and a separate court system is required to provide
those needs. There is a prominent belief among professionals
and juvenile justice experts that if children did something wrong,
they can be rehabilitated through intensive counseling, education,
and guidance, whereas adults might be less receptive to rehabilitation.
The juvenile courts serve three distinctly different kinds of
situations involving kids:
First, there are children who have committed an act that if
committed by an adult would be considered criminal. These
kids are commonly referred to as juvenile delinquents. These
matter are governed by section 602 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code.
Second, there are children who have committed status offenses. These
are activities that are only wrong because they are committed
by minors. If they were committed by adults, they would
not be considered illegal at all. Examples of status offenses
are truancy, running away from home, violating curfew, or simply
being outside of the control of your parents. These kids
are also often called "children in need of supervision” These
cases are governed by section 601 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code.
And finally, there are the children who have been abused, neglected
or abandoned. In these circumstances, the court must decide
who is going to be responsible for the care of these children. This
is done through court hearings which are held to determine questions
of dependency, under section 300 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code. In some cases, temporary custody is taken from the
parents and the children are placed in foster care. Parents
are then ordered to get counseling before their children are
returned. In other cases, the parents' right to their
children is taken away entirely and these children are put up
for adoption. A “300” case can be an extremely
serious and emotionally draining exercise.
An exception to the three primary categories of minors described
above are the children who are 14 or older and have committed
a very serious crime. Under these circumstances, the court,
upon the urging of the district attorney's office can transfer
a child from the juvenile justice system to the adult justice
system. When this occurs, a "fitness hearing" under
Welfare & Institution code section 707 is held to determine
whether the minor is suited for the juvenile justice process
or would be more appropriately treated if transferred to the
adult court system.
This decision is based on the following criteria:
- the minor's degree of criminal sophistication;
- whether he or she can be rehabilitated;
- the child's previous delinquent history;
- the success of previous attempts by the juvenile court to
rehabilitate the minor; and
- the circumstances and gravity of the offense.
Again, a district attorney will usually only recommend that
a child be transferred to the adult courts when the child has
allegedly committed an extremely serious offense, such as murder,
arson, armed robbery, forcible sex crimes, kidnapping, assault,
shooting a firearm into an occupied building, selling or providing
certain drugs to other minors, or other aggravated offenses.
If the child remains in the juvenile justice system he or she
may be kept under the court's jurisdiction until the age of 21
if she was less than 16 when she became a ward of the court. If
the child is more than 16 years old when charged with a crime,
the child will remain a ward of the court until the age of 25.
When kids are picked up as either delinquents or status offenders,
police and probation officers have discretion to release kids
and send them home to their parents. If children are held
by the police or the probation department, however, laws require
that those who are status offenders be held separate and apart
from children charged as delinquents or adults who have been
arrested. Call our office right away if your child is
picked up. An attorney can represent your child to law
enforcement and probation to help avoid being formally charged
with a crime.
If a child is taken into custody, he must either be released
within 48 hours or have a petition for wardship filed against
him. During this time, the parents must be notified about
what is going on and/or the intent of the probation department
to have their child made a ward of the court. During these
proceedings, minors have a right to a lawyer and have most of
the procedural rights given adult defendants. But juvenile
defendants, unlike adults in California, have no right to a jury
trial, and no right to bail.
Trials and juvenile court proceedings are called adjudication
hearings. If a child is found guilty of the crime at an
adjudication hearing, a dispositional hearing is scheduled. At
the dispositional hearing, the state decides what would be the
court's appropriate response, keeping in mind that the overriding
aim of the juvenile justice system is to rehabilitate youthful
offenders and get them back on the right track. The court
has various options. A judge may place the child on probation,
seek restitution, assign the child to community service or place
her in a halfway house or foster care. A juvenile offender
also may be sent to a training school or a secure facility. A
secure facility is also known as "lock-up," where the
juveniles are not allowed the freedom to leave.
Once a case is resolved, sealing or destroying juvenile records
is a complicated process and may not be possible if the child
has been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral
turpitude, or if not enough time has passed since the child's
conviction. Usually, records can be sealed after five
years from the termination of the juvenile court's jurisdiction
or as soon as the juvenile becomes 18. Once sealed, the
minor's records may not be opened for inspection unless ordered
by the court.
If you find yourself involved in any juvenile court matter call
Mr. Grupenhagen immediately for a free consultation.
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