When a minor is apprehended for committing a wrongful act, they will undergo a different type of justice system designed with their needs in mind. In California, the juvenile delinquency court oversees judicial processes for your child after they face accusations equivalent to criminal charges. While the juvenile justice system should encompass unique features that promote a minor’s rehabilitation, you want to understand how the juvenile delinquency court works in detail.
Doing so benefits any minor or parent needing specific information regarding their child’s wellbeing. Consulting an experienced legal practitioner is the best option, as you will receive verified information regarding the juvenile delinquency court system. Furthermore, your attorney will provide legal assistance to ensure you undergo the various procedures easily. With Chula Vista Criminal Attorney, you will receive excellent legal services for your child’s best interests. Our team is equipped to help clients facing any charges within the juvenile delinquency court.
Understanding What a Juvenile Delinquency Court Is
When minors commit criminal offenses, they will face the outcomes under a different justice system to help them receive the necessary rehabilitation. Therefore, the juvenile delinquency court exists to help determine criminal cases minors commit. Thanks to the specialization of a system for minors only, they can avoid the daunting experience often associated with the regular court procedure.
Further, the juvenile delinquency court observes different procedures to pursue justice and rehabilitate the minor. Nevertheless, the judge and prosecutor working on each case are responsible for ensuring the relevant standards for criminal cases are the main reference. In doing so, the standard of justice achieved remains high and reliable.
The Court’s Jurisdiction
Since juvenile delinquency courts cater to minors, their jurisdiction encompasses hearing cases for anyone under eighteen. Specifically, children between twelve to seventeen years suspected of engaging in criminal activities face trial in court. However, minors may receive a case deferment in special circumstances.
When a Minor’s Case Faces Deferment
If a judge determines that a minor committed a serious offense, they may have their case referred to an adult court through a transfer hearing. The circumstances leading to a case transfer vary and often involve minors committing an offense listed under section 707(b) of the Welfare and Institutions Code. The provision lists offenses that attract serious repercussions, even for minors, based on their gravity. They include:
- Murder
- Arson
- Kidnapping to receive ransom
- Attempted murder
- Rape using force or threats of force
Procedures Observed in a Juvenile Delinquency Court
Like other courts, a juvenile delinquency court follows specific procedures to help maintain order and uniformity when handling minors’ criminal cases. This is important as it establishes reliability and fairness through forging a predictable system that caters to different cases. Thus, understanding the juvenile delinquency court procedures is vital in helping you prepare for an upcoming case. The main processes to consider are:
1. The Detention hearing
Some matters require law enforcement officers to arrest and detain a minor suspected of involvement in criminal activity. They do this for their safety and to ensure that law and order are restored where the crime allegedly occurred. Subsequently, the minors in custody must appear before the juvenile delinquency court and learn the accusations against them.
The chance to appear before the presiding judge arises through the detention hearing. The process also allows you to request release before the main hearing, meaning you do not have to return to custody.
While the detention hearing is fairly straightforward, you want to work with a criminal attorney because they will help you demonstrate justifications for your release. Your parents or guardians are crucial in connecting you to an attorney who will provide the necessary legal support.
The detention hearing also presents an opportunity for minors without access to legal representation to request court intervention. Usually, the presiding judge should provide qualified state counsel to represent you in the interest of upholding a fair judicial process.
While the assigned attorney should meet the required standard in providing legal services, they may fail because they often have multiple cases to handle. Thus, you want to work with a retained attorney who prioritizes your matter.
2. Court Arraignments
Court arraignment hearings are the alternative for minors facing criminal accusations but remain out of custody. This means you will retain your freedom before your matter concludes and only appear in court as required.
The court arraignment sessions hold the same plan as detention hearings, except for determining whether you can exit custody. Overall, the hearing allows you to understand the accusations presented against you to help prepare for trial. It also informs the presiding judge of the matter they can expect to handle and whether they have any factors to consider before proceeding for the main hearing.
3. The Minor’s Transfer Hearing
As mentioned, some cases may be too severe and complex for trial in the juvenile delinquency court system. Consequently, a transfer hearing may be necessary to refer the matter to the adult court system, where you will face full trial and penalties.
During the transfer hearing, the presiding judge will consider the prosecutor's application for a transfer, as they are the parties tasked with initiating your case transfer. This means they should move the court on why your case should be considered serious enough for trial as an adult.
Afterward, your attorney can present defenses to help you avoid the deferment to the adult court system. In presenting their defenses, they should focus on why your identity as a minor should be a primary consideration and the potential success of your reform if you remain in the juvenile delinquency court system.
Circumstances Leading to Case Deferment
While both parties have the chance to present their positions, the judge holds discretion on whether to authorize the transfer or to proceed with the matter in the juvenile delinquency court. In doing so, they will consider several factors that provide more information on the nature of your offense. These considerations include:
Whether You Have a History of Delinquent Behavior
Having a record of delinquent behavior may show that you could not reform under the juvenile delinquency system. As a result, a judge may be more inclined to transfer your case to adult court if records show repetitive unlawful activities.
Moreover, the judge may request records from any previous supervising officers appointed to oversee your case. These reports provide insight into whether your reform process was smooth to demonstrate the likelihood of another successful juvenile delinquency reform process.
However, your criminal attorney can help you argue that your previous offenses were minor and were attributed to reasonable issues like being forced into crime. Having evidential sources to support your arguments is helpful, as the goal is to persuade the judge to agree with you.
The Severity and Complexity of the Offense
Furthermore, the judge will weigh the complexity of your involvement in the offense and its severity to those affected. When considering your case complexity, the presiding judge is interested in checking your tactics, malicious acts like pretenses, and pre-crime organization.
They will mainly rely on the prosecutor's evidentiary sources to reach their determination, meaning that you may have reduced the chances of justifying your actions. However, your attorney can request to interject as the prosecutor presents on the nature of your case, mainly because the official hearing will not have started.
Therefore, the prosecutor should not aim to convince the judge of your guilty involvement in the preliminary stages. The case severity often encompasses checking the impact of your actions on the victims.
For example, if you involve yourself in theft and kidnapping, the judge will assess whether anyone reported severe injuries, fatalities, or damage to property. Monetary losses are also a common factor, and the judge may order fine payment at later stages if the case proceeds in the juvenile delinquency courts.
The Success of Your Rehabilitation in the Juvenile System
The probability of success in providing rehabilitation can also inform a judge’s decision on whether to proceed with the trial in juvenile delinquency courts or to order a case transfer. The primary consideration to make is whether you demonstrate signs of willingness to undergo reform. If you have a delinquent record, the judge will consider whether you benefitted and showed improved behavior from the previous rehabilitation.
Further, you may need to justify why the judge should consider retaining your case in the juvenile courts. When providing your response, you want to show that you are capable of cooperation and adhering to requirements, as it will increase your chances of having your case retained in the juvenile delinquency court.
4. The Jurisdiction Hearing
After all preliminary considerations, your case can proceed to the main hearing, termed the jurisdiction hearing in the juvenile system. The burden of proof falls on the prosecutor to show that you participated in the alleged criminal offenses charged against you beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, you can expect the prosecution team to present multiple evidential sources that place you as a primary offender.
On the other hand, your criminal attorney responds to the prosecutor’s accusations by providing defenses on your behalf. Since the counter-arguments should be relevant to the case raised against you to avoid dwelling on minor issues, having an attorney acting for you ensures your defenses are within these requirements.
5. Disposition Hearings
Finally, the court holds a disposition hearing, whereby you will learn your case outcome. Disposition hearings are the equivalent of sentencing hearings in adult court, and the judge presides over most of the procedure. They will inform you of your case outcome and issue penalties if they declare you to be a ward of the court.
Possible Penalties Issued in a Juvenile Delinquency Court
After the jurisdiction and disposition hearings, the presiding judge may decide to sustain the petition the prosecutor raised against you. If so, you will be liable to receive court orders to help you reform your behavior. As mentioned, the main aim of juvenile delinquency court procedures is to help the minor in question avoid future unlawful engagements without exposing them to difficult or traumatic conditions.
Despite this, some court outcomes may order you, like the minor in question, to face more severe consequences, depending on the severity of your case. Thus, understanding the possible outcomes can help you mentally prepare yourself, which can prove advantageous. Expected court outcomes include:
Rehabilitation
The term rehabilitation is broadly used in juvenile delinquency courts but encompasses two main aspects. Firstly, rehabilitation orders should ensure that you receive adequate medical services to help you overcome any mental health problems that trigger criminal behavior.
This is because many minors arraigned in juvenile delinquency courts suffer from past traumatic conditions that inform their poor choices. Professional medical assistance should be adequate, provided you provide the necessary cooperation.
In issuing rehabilitation orders, the presiding judge can order you to attend therapy sessions for a specified duration. Moreover, they may request the mental health service provider to report to the court on your wellbeing and recommend a period to close your case. You should note that the professional will only recommend a case dismissal if you show behavioral improvements.
Additionally, rehabilitation encompasses receiving education following the juvenile delinquency court proceedings. The premise is that some minors lack education opportunities, making them choose involvement in crime as a way to pass the time or earn a living. Further, some children may participate in criminal activities due to inadequate education on specific topics, especially law-related ones.
The judge may attach a social worker or any other relevant professional to ensure that you complete the recommended education program for a better chance of successful rehabilitation. Therefore, you should be ready for school enrollment and participation in school-related activities.
Commitment to a California Youth Authority Facility
Despite the goal to rehabilitate most minors, some cases require the presiding judge to issue more severe outcomes. The primary reason is that you may have committed a serious offense requiring confinement and extreme disciplinary measures. Commitment to a California Youth Authority facility is equivalent to a jail sentence for juvenile delinquency cases.
Upon receiving the orders, you can expect to remain in confinement for the assigned duration, as a convicted person in regular court proceedings would receive a jail sentence. After the presiding judge reads the orders, the minor has a limited time to hear from their parents or other loved ones before transportation to the facility.
Minors will face severe disciplinary action for reported misconduct in the California Youth Authority facility. In extreme cases, this may include solitary confinement for some hours, manual labor, or sedation. You may also risk physical harm from other minors in the facility because they may subject you to bullying or physical assault. Hence, it is a challenging environment for minors, meant to shape them into reform using force, among other methods.
Sometimes, reports of mistreatment and neglect towards minors in these facilities arise, raising issues about their effectiveness as a form of punishment and behavioral reform for minors. Nonetheless, presiding judges in juvenile delinquency courts continue to issue orders that send children to the facilities, so you should consider this a possible outcome.
Orders to Move Into a Foster Home
Alternatively, you may have to move into a foster home after your juvenile delinquency hearings. These orders are primarily relevant where you lack proper parental supervision for various reasons. For example, if your parents are incapacitated because of drug abuse or deteriorating health, you may involve yourself in criminal activities. This is because you may lack adult supervision and guidance.
In some cases, the need to move into a foster home arises because your parents or loved ones may have taken advantage of you and forced you into crime. For example, you may have been forcefully used as a drug trafficker because children are less suspicious of law enforcement officers fighting drug distribution.
Consequently, the presiding judge should weigh all relevant factors to your case and determine whether foster care is better for you. In doing so, they should also consider the adjustment you will need to make in receiving education, health, and social interactions.
After moving in with a foster family, a court representative will check in with you once in a while to ensure you are undergoing the reform you need. The representative will also note any problems or hindrances to your rehabilitation and report them to the judge for appropriate action.
Community Service
Some juvenile delinquency cases require the minor found to be a ward of the court to make reforms, especially where their actions are reversible. Hence, community service is a relevant court order if the presiding judge finds it necessary to have the minor correct their actions.
Community service encompasses a broad range of activities, including cleaning the environment, volunteering in shelters and senior homes, and helping in general renovations in public places. This makes it suitable for a minor facing accusations like vandalism by making illegal graffiti marks.
While performing your community service, you want to ensure you observe the requirements that accompany your court order. They include reporting to your workstation on time every day or every required session and reporting to the supervising officer. Your work quality should also be to the recommended standard to avoid facing potential scrutiny for displaying signs of impunity.
Sometimes, you may also need to keep a journal that elaborates on what you have learned throughout the community service. The presiding judge may request to scrutinize your records at any time as a reference point in determining whether you are undergoing the required reforms.
Formal or Informal Probation
Further, probation orders are relevant in juvenile delinquency court outcomes, so you want to understand what they encompass. Typically, formal probation involves stricter terms than informal probation. For example, the judge may order you to remain on house arrest under formal probation and report to your probation officer frequently before closing your case.
On the other hand, informal probation terms are more lenient and only require you to remain committed to your reform journey. For example, you may need to complete an unsupervised project demonstrating your efforts to change your involvement in criminal activity. Once a presiding judge receives your presentation, your case will likely be closed. However, you also want to observe the court’s timelines and regulations.
Fine Payment Orders
When you commit an offense that causes losses to victims, you may pay fines on top of other punishments against you. This helps the victims to receive restitution for their harm, which may be necessary for them. The presiding judge will often consider this court order if the victims specifically request it. However, it may also result from a severe crime that attracts harsher penalties than rehabilitation.
Attending Victim Impact Classes
Finally, mandatory attendance of victim impact classes is also a standard court order against a minor found to have engaged in a crime. The classes play a significant role in helping you understand the adverse effects of your criminal involvement on others and how you can avoid repeating wrongful actions. Upon completing the classes, you may need to write about what you have learned and intend to change about your behavior. Your observations will help inform the judge of the success of your rehabilitation.
Contact a Chula Vista Criminal Lawyer Near Me
The uncertainty of your child’s detention for allegedly breaking the law can be overwhelming. Therefore, understanding how the juvenile delinquency court works will be helpful for you and the arrested minor, as you can prepare for future court processes. Doing so will not only increase your confidence before appearing in court, but it will also help strengthen the minor’s case against the prosecutor. You also want to partner with a skilled criminal attorney who understands the juvenile delinquency court and the requirements to satisfy.
At Chula Vista Criminal Attorney, you can expect high-quality legal services tailored to help your child face a smooth court process. We help clients with cases in the juvenile delinquency court, prepare for upcoming cases and ensure they understand the system. For more information on the juvenile delinquency court, contact us today at 619-877-6894.