California understands that teenagers are still learning and maturing. That is why the juvenile justice system rehabilitates children who commit crimes instead of punishing them. The aim is to ensure the misconduct does not reoccur while addressing any emotional and educational challenges your child is experiencing. Regrettably, the state can prosecute your child as an adult under specific circumstances. If it happens, the young offender faces the same criminal process and penalties as an adult defendant. Hiring a knowledgeable Fresno attorney will give your child the best chance for favorable case outcomes.

At California Criminal Lawyer Group, we appreciate the importance of an effective and robust criminal defense. We can work aggressively to compel the state to try your son or daughter as a minor to take advantage of the juvenile delinquency system. Additionally, we can work with you throughout the judicial process to assist you in presenting a solid defense.

A Brief Overview of California Juvenile Delinquency

The law considers any person below 18 a minor. Therefore, minors are tried in juvenile court when they violate a law.

California’s juvenile judicial system aims to rehabilitate young offenders. It is different from the criminal adult system. On the other hand, when an adult is found guilty of an offense and sentenced, the objective is to penalize the defendant.

Children in the juvenile delinquency system obtain the services, treatment, and education they require to outgrow their past offenses, become productive in society, and rejoin their loved ones. However, that does not imply that a minor who violates the law receives no punishment. The court can sanction the juvenile for their impermissible conduct. These sanctions include paying fines, performing community service, imposing probationary conditions, and attending victim impact classes.

The delinquency court process starts with an arrest. If the underlying matter is not severe, the police can warn your child and allow them to return. They can also issue your child a citation to attend court later but allow them to head home. However, law enforcement will take the young offender to the juvenile hall if the case is severe.

The probation officers at the juvenile hall will interview the minor and do any of the following:

  • Send the minor home with a citation to attend a court hearing later.
  • Send the young offender home with probation conditions.
  • Continue keeping the minor in juvenile hall until the court looks at the delinquency case.

As the case proceeds, your child could attend court hearings as follows:

  • Detention —To determine whether your child will continue staying in juvenile hall pending their case resolution.
  • Transfer — The court determines whether the juvenile’s case will be sent to adult court or remain in California juvenile delinquency court.
  • Adjudication —The young offender’s trial is conducted before a judge.
  • Disposition hearing — The court sentences your child after sustaining the charges against them.

Juvenile Justice Initiative

In 2000, California voters passed the Juvenile Justice Initiative, or Proposition 21, which aimed to curb the rising cases of delinquency, mainly associated with gang activities.

The law allowed the prosecutor to try minors as adults. It also specified specific offenses where young offenders are automatically tried as adults. They include certain sex offenses and murder.

Senate Bill 1391

Later, in 2018, Governor George Brown signed SB 1391 into law, replacing Prop. 21.

Previously, a child could be tried as an adult for a serious and violent crime they committed while above 14. Under SB 1391, the ward can only be tried as an adult when:

  • The child is above 16.
  • The juvenile violated the law while they were below 16, but law enforcers did not learn of the crime until the young offender was above the majority age.
  • The prosecution considers it essential to request the juvenile court transfer a child over 16 to an adult criminal court.

Transfer Court Hearing

Also called a fitness court hearing, a transfer court hearing is when the juvenile delinquency judge determines whether your child is fit for the California delinquency judicial system. If the judge believes the young offender will not obtain help from the rehabilitative services, they will transfer the child to an adult criminal judicial court.

The prosecution can initiate the transfer court hearing when:

  • The young offender is at least 16 and has committed a crime highlighted in Welfare and Institution Code 707b.
  • The minor was fourteen or fifteen when they committed a crime listed in the 707b, and the police did not arrest them until they were eighteen.

The prosecution should give the child a five-day notice of the fitness hearing.

Factors the Judge Considers When Determining Whether to Transfer Your Child to an Adult Court System

These factors include the following:

  1. The Extent of Criminal Sophistication Your Child Exhibited

When evaluating this criterion, the court can consider one of the factors below:

  1. Your child’s age, intellectual capacity, maturity, and emotional, mental, or physical health when committing the crime.
  2. The impact of adult, peer, or familiar pressure on your baby’s conduct.
  3. The effect of a child’s community and family environment.
  4. Child trauma.
  5. The young offender’s failure or impetuosity to appreciate the consequences and risks of criminal conduct.

  1. Whether the Juvenile Delinquency System Can Rehabilitate the Child Before the Juvenile Court's Jurisdiction Expires

When evaluating this criterion, the judge considers the child’s potential to mature and grow.

  1. The Child’s Prior Delinquent History

The court will give the following factors weight:

  1. The severity of the child's prior delinquent history.
  2. The relationship between childhood trauma and the child’s prior delinquent acts.
  3. The impact of the ward’s community and family environment.

  1. Success of Previous Attempts by the California Delinquent Judicial System to Rehabilitate Your Child

In this case, the judge will consider the adequacy of previously offered services to address your child’s needs.

  1. The Seriousness and Circumstances Surrounding the Alleged Criminal Activity

When evaluating this criterion, the court gives weight to any of these factors, including:

  1. The minor’s actual conduct.
  2. The child's mental state during the crime commission.
  3. The ward’s extent of participation in the offense.
  4. The degree of harm the minor caused.
  5. Your child’s emotional and cognitive development.

Crimes Transferred to Adult Court

Remember, the prosecution can initiate the fitness court hearing if the child violates a WIC 707(b) crime. If the minor fails to prove by a preponderance of evidence that the case belongs to the juvenile delinquency system, the child will face the adult criminal judicial process.

These crimes include the following:

  • Arson of an inhabited structure or that results in great bodily injuries.
  • Robbery.
  • Rape with threats of great bodily injuries.
  • Robbery.
  • Murder.
  • Lewd conduct with a minor below 14.
  • Kidnapping to facilitate robbery.
  • Kidnapping and causing bodily injuries.
  • Kidnapping for ransom.
  • Assault by applying force that can cause great bodily injuries.
  • Assault using a destructive device or firearm.
  • Bribing a witness or dissuading them.
  • Engaging in a criminal street gang sentencing enhancement (PC 186.22(b)).
  • Committing a crime against a person living with a disability or above 60 (PC 1203.09).
  • Compounding, selling, or manufacturing at least one-half ounce of a narcotic.
  • Aggravated mayhem.
  • Torture.
  • Kidnapping during carjacking.
  • Kidnapping for sexual assault.
  • Carjacking.
  • Voluntary manslaughter.

Crimes that Automatically Lead to Your Ward Being Tried in an Adult Judicial Court

According to WIC 602b, some offenses warrant your child being tried automatically as an adult if they are over 16. The court could try them as adults if they allegedly committed murder and any of the following sex crimes:

  • Rape using force or threats and causing great bodily injuries.
  • Forceful sexual penetration.
  • Oral copulation through threats of great bodily injuries, violence, or force.
  • Lascivious conduct on a child below 14.

Can You Appeal the Judge’s Decision?

If your child loses at their fitness hearing, the court will transfer them to California adult criminal court, where they will face regulations applicable to adult defendants.

If you want to contest the judge’s decision, you should bring a writ petition within twenty days following the child arraignment hearing on the accusations that resulted in the transfer.

Can a Child Face the Death Penalty?

Children do not qualify for the death penalty. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, the penalty is an unusual and cruel punishment that violates the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Also, a child found guilty of a non-homicide offense cannot face life without parole.

Potential Penalties for Crime that Young Offenders are Tried as Adults

After the court deems your child unfit, it will try them as adults and subject them to penalties linked to WIC 707(b) crimes. These penalties include the following:

California Robbery

PC 211 defines robbery as using threats or force to take property from another person against their will. The penalties your child faces depend on whether the prosecutor charges your child with first-degree robbery or second-degree robbery.

First-degree robbery involves the robbery of:

  • A passenger or driver on a motor vehicle.
  • An individual in an inhabited structure.
  • An individual who has just used an ATM and is still in the ATM’s vicinity.

The crime carries a sentence of three to nine years in California state prison.

Second-degree robbery is any robbery that does not meet the first-degree robbery definition. It is a felony punishable by a ten thousand dollar fine, five years in state prison, and felony probation.

Forcible Sexual Penetration

PC 289 defines forcible penetration as penetrating the anus or vagina of an individual using a foreign substance without their consent and using threats of force or force.

Please note that your child could be convicted of PC 289 when they engage in any of the following sexual penetration conduct for gratification, arousal, or sexual abuse:

  • Penetration, regardless of how slight, of the victim’s anal opening or genital.
  • Causing the alleged victim to penetrate the anal opening or genital area of the young offender or a third party.
  • Causing the alleged victim to penetrate their anal opening or genital.

The law defines a foreign object as any object, including a body part other than a sexual organ.

The crime is a felony. It attracts the following penalties:

  • Eight years in state prison.
  • Ten thousand dollars in fine.
  • Formal probation.

California Kidnapping

 PC 207 defines simple kidnapping as moving somebody else without their consent using fear or force. On the other hand, aggravated kidnapping is moving another person without their consent using fraud, fear, or fear and:

  • The alleged victim is below 14 years.
  • The young offender holds the victim for ransom.
  • The victim sustained bodily injuries or died.
  • The kidnapping occurred during a carjacking.

Simple kidnapping is a California felony. It attracts the following penalties:

  • A fine that does not exceed ten thousand dollars.
  • A minimum of three and a maximum of eight years in state prison.

If your child is sentenced for aggravated kidnapping and the alleged victim was 14 during the crime commission, they will spend five (5), eight (8), or eleven (11) years in prison.

Voluntary Manslaughter

PC 192 defines voluntary manslaughter as the illegal killing of another person that happens during a sudden quarrel, in the heat of passion, or founded on an honest but irrational belief in self-defense. 

Violation of the voluntary manslaughter statute is a felony. For a manslaughter conviction, the judge can decide to:

  • grant probation with a one-year jail term or
  • deny probation and impose three (3), six (6), or eleven years in state prison.

Additionally, a conviction can lead to the following penalties:

  • A strike on your child’s criminal record.
  • A ten thousand dollar fine.
  • Loss of the entitlement to possess a gun per PC 29800.
  • Community service.
  • Attending counseling service.

Police Questioning of a Minor

The initial step following an arrest and before custodial interrogation is for law enforcement agents to advise the individual of their 5th Amendment constitutional right against self-incrimination or Miranda Rights.

Your child’s Miranda rights include:

  • Legal right to legal counsel, and if you cannot afford one, the court will provide an attorney free of charge.
  • The entitlement to remain silent; the police could use anything your child says against them in court.

During your child’s custodial interrogation:

  • The child cannot leave at will.
  • The police will subject your child to questioning designed to extract self-incriminating responses.

The law considers a minor to be in legal custody if they:

  • Do not have their freedom in a significant way.
  • Have a reasonable understanding that they cannot leave at will.

Can Law Enforcement Officers Interrogate Your Minor Without First Reading Their Miranda Warning?

The law requires a police officer to read a Miranda warning once they detain a juvenile.

Law enforcement can briefly interrogate suspects, including children, without reading their Miranda rights. It is called a Terry Stop (it is lawful if a police officer has reasonable suspicion of illegal activities). Reasonable suspicion is a lower threshold than probable cause, which law enforcement requires to take someone in.

How to Plead The Right to Remain Silent

While no specific words are needed to exercise this right, your child should affirmatively invoke the right after arrest. Keeping quiet is not adequate.

The most effective way your child can exercise this constitutional right is by telling the interrogator that they plead their entitlement to remain silent. Other ways to invoke it include stating the following:

  • They want to consult their defense attorney first.
  • That they only want to talk to their attorney.
  • They choose to keep quiet.
  • They are exercising the protection against self-incrimination.

Waiving Miranda Rights

Your minor child can waive their Miranda rights only when the waiver is voluntary. The prosecution should prove the waiver was voluntary by a preponderance of the evidence.

When determining whether the minor’s testimony was voluntary, the judge considers the following factors:

  • Whether the police threatened to harm or harmed the juvenile.
  • Whether the police threatened to detain the minor’s loved ones.
  • Whether the officers promised more lenient penalties in return for a confession.
  • Whether the detectives denied your child using the washroom, food, water, or sleep.
  • Whether the interrogation was unduly lengthy.

If the answer to these factors is yes, then the confession is involuntary.

The law bans detectives from questioning a child below 17 in custody until the young offender has talked with an attorney. The consultation can occur in person, by video conference, or by phone. However, there are exemptions to this requirement. They include the following:

  • The police think the details are crucial to safeguarding property or life from pending danger.
  • The police’s questions are restricted to those essential to acquiring those details.

Are You Entitled to Be Present During Your Child’s Interrogation?

You are not legally required to be present during the interrogation. The minor should protect their rights.

Police officers are not your family’s friends, and it is their responsibility to build a criminal case against your child once they suspect the minor of the crime. Therefore, it is wise to advise the young offender to politely refuse to answer the police questions without consulting with an attorney.

What Happens When the Police Violate Your Child’s Miranda Rights?

Generally, the judge should exclude all subsequent statements from the state’s evidence if there is a Miranda violation.

Here is what to expect with different scenarios:

  1. Using a Confession for Impeachment

If the police violated Miranda rights, the court cannot use your child's subsequent confession in the prosecutor’s case.

However, unless the police coerced the confession, the prosecution can use it to impeach your child’s testimony. In other words, if the minor changes their story at trial, the prosecution can use their statements to verify that they are lying.

  1. What Happens If Your Child Changes Their Statement During Their Trial?

Sometimes, young offenders make incriminating statements but deny them at the adjudication court hearing. In this case, the prosecution will request a continuance.

The judge will pause the court hearing for a week to allow the prosecution to subpoena the police officer who heard the statement.

Then, the law enforcer will testify about the alleged statement. If the police did not correctly Mirandize your child, your defense attorney should work to have the testimony excluded from the state evidence against the ward.

Can You Be Held Responsible For Their Child’s Crime?

While many parents do their best to raise law-abiding individuals, sometimes children make errors and undertake unlawful activities. Most children could undergo a defiant period, creating an emotional roller coaster for their parents. As a parent, it hurts to see your minor struggle through their formative years.

Sometimes, underage children can violate the law. California parents have to worry about their child’s well-being and might be in legal trouble if that happens. Parents in California can be held criminally responsible for offenses their underage children have committed.

California’s parental responsibility law, Penal Code 272(a)(2), states that the parents of a minor who engages in unlawful activities could face charges and penalties. Assuming the judge rules, you should have been aware that your child was engaging in delinquent behavior but did not take any precautionary measures like supervising, disciplining, or controlling them. In that case, you could be prosecuted for your failure to exercise reasonable control over your underage minor.

Before the judge convicts you of I Penal Code 272, the prosecution should prove the following facts beyond any reasonable doubt:

  • You did not take precautionary measures to supervise and guide your minor to prevent criminal conduct.
  • You reasonably knew, or ought to have known, that your minor was a delinquent or was potentially at risk of delinquency.

Breaking the parental responsibility law in California is a misdemeanor crime. If found guilty, you will spend the offense, which is punishable by one year in county jail and a maximum fine of $2500.

Nevertheless, Golden State provides a parental diversion program where, if you qualify, you could get the charges against you dismissed, avoiding a prison sentence and attracting a criminal record. However, you must receive treatment or complete an educational program.

Legal Defenses and Strategies

Appropriate legal defenses to a violation of California’s parental responsibility law include:

  • External influence — You could argue that no matter your best efforts, outside factors, like peer pressure or influence from adults, led the underage child to illegal activities.
  • Inadequate knowledge – You were in the dark regarding your minor’s criminal conduct, maybe because the minor secretly engaged in illegal conduct.
  • Unforeseeable actions — If you can prove your underage child’s actions were entirely unpredictable based on the minor’s previous conduct or character, you could avoid blame.
  • Reasonable supervision — You can avoid criminal charges if you show that you have supervised and controlled your child.

Contact an Experienced Juvenile Delinquency Defense Lawyer Near Me

If the court has deemed your minor child unfit for the juvenile delinquency judicial system and will try them as an adult, you need competent legal representation throughout the process. Juvenile delinquency defense is a multifaceted area of legal practice that requires knowledge of court proceedings, sensitivity to relevant issues affecting your child’s well-being and conduct, and compassion for the minor.

The Fresno legal team at California Criminal Lawyer Group will work from all possible angles to obtain the best case outcome for the minor that lessens the impact the juvenile delinquency process will have on their life and future. We are dedicated to having the child’s case dropped, reduced, or dismissed. We know the judges, probation officers, and prosecutors and can use our professional relationships and the California judicial system’s knowledge to work for the young offender. Please contact us at 559-712-8377 to schedule your initial, confidential consultation.