Like adults, minors can be arrested and charged for violating California law. Juveniles are individuals under eighteen and can be arrested for acts ranging from truancy and violating curfew to serious crimes like murder and rape. After an arrest, your child will be detained in the juvenile hall, awaiting the filing of a juvenile petition by the probation department or the prosecution.

Following filing a petition, the child will undergo the juvenile court process. Mostly, you will learn of your arrest through a phone call that the minor is entitled to or through a law enforcement officer. The thought of your child spending time in detention can take a toll on you and your family. Therefore, you must be quick to take the right steps and ensure a favorable outcome in their situation.

These steps may include seeking legal guidance, offering your support by attending their hearings, and collecting evidence that could help the child’s case. The laws involving the arrest of minors are complicated. Therefore, having a skilled attorney guide you and your child through difficult times is critical.

The following are steps you should take after learning of your child’s arrest in California:

Remain Calm and Act Quickly

A few things are more traumatizing than receiving the phone call that your child has been arrested and is being detained in juvenile hall. While this can be traumatizing, you should not dwell on your emotions of anger and frustration with your child.

Instead, you should remain calm and act quickly to give your child the best chance of securing a favorable outcome. Like adults, minors can be arrested for false accusations or mystical facts. Therefore, you should not assume that your child is guilty of the crime for which they were arrested.

Remaining calm may prevent you from worsening your child's situation by offering information or making statements that could complicate their case. For example, stating that your child is a habitual offender or a truant could change law enforcement's perception of them and bias the child’s case.

Seek legal Guidance

Unlike adult offenders, two who face arrest for committing a crime in California will be detained in juvenile hall. The law enforcement officers refer your child to the prosecution or probation officer for failing a juvenile petition. Your child’s case will be handled in juvenile court, which focuses more on rehabilitation than punishment for minor offenders.

One of the things that you should avoid when dealing with your child’s case is acting without an attorney. You could be tempted to allow the police to search or interrogate your child. If your child has never dealt with law enforcement officers in the past, they could be tempted to divulge information that will negatively impact their case.

Although the juvenile court is more lenient on offenders, the juvenile court process can traumatize your child, and the juvenile dispositions could take a toll on their life. Therefore, hiring and retaining a skilled criminal defense attorney for your child is critical. Working with a juvenile delinquency defense attorney to handle your child’s case offers the following benefits:

  • The attorney has enough experience to help your child avoid legal pitfalls.
  • Legal information that you never knew about.
  • A lawyer can protect your child's rights.
  • The attorney will speed up the process and ensure your child is released.
  • A skilled lawyer can negotiate to have your child’s case dismissed or their charges reduced.

When seeking legal representation, you should be sure to hire an attorney who is experienced in the juvenile justice system. This helps ensure your child receives the best legal support through this difficult time.

Find Ways for Your Child to be Released from Juvenile Detention

Depending on the severity of a child’s criminal offense, they could be reduced shortly after their arrest or be detained in the juvenile hall awaiting the filing of a petition. If the prosecution or probation department files a petition against your child, a detention hearing will be held to determine their suitability for release with a pending case. Unlike adult offenders, miners do not have a right to a bail release.

A detention hearing will be held 48 and 72 hours after your arrest. The juvenile court judge will consider the following factors before releasing your child from juvenile detention:

  • The child’s delinquency history. If your child is a repeat offender or habitual offender, the judge may order them to remain in detention.
  • The minor's flight risk. After a release at the detention hearing, the juvenile offender must return to court on a specified date for a jurisdiction hearing. The court will determine your child’s likelihood of fleeing after release.
  • Community ties. A juvenile with more ties to the community may be a lower flight risk. Therefore, you are responsible for presenting testimony showing that the child’s connections in the community will allow them to remain within the jurisdiction and return for other court proceedings.

Assure the Child of Your Support

Facing an arrest and dealing with law enforcement officers can be a traumatizing experience for your child. The minor can cope with the detention and other juvenile court processes by receiving your support. If you are too overwhelmed to offer the necessary support for the child, you could seek professional counseling services.

In addition to helping your child cope with the situation, professional counseling may help convince the judge that your child is taking the right steps to avoid the underlying delinquent acts. Instead of focusing on blaming the child for their acts, you should encourage them to avoid similar behaviors that could result in a future arrest.

Attend all Court Hearings

The juvenile court process involves several hearings. Attending these hearings assures the child of your support and helps you learn the details of their case. A juvenile offender may be involved in the following juvenile court hearings:

Transfer Hearing

Minus between 12 and 18 years as charged in the juvenile justice system. With the belief that juveniles lack the mental capacity to understand the nature and consequences of their actions, the juvenile court system is not the same as the adult criminal court. Unfortunately, there are times when a juvenile can be transferred to adult court for trial and conviction as an adult.

Your child could be at risk of transfer to adult court if they have committed a serious offense addressed under WIC 707(b). These offenses include violent felonies like rape, murder, kidnapping, and carjacking. The juvenile court will hold the fitness hearing before transferring your child to adult court.

Some of the factors that impact the decision to transfer your child into criminal court include:

  • The severity of the child’s crime. If your child faces an arrest for committing a serious crime, the juvenile court may suggest they not be tried as an adult. The severity of an offense is determined by the extent of the loss and injuries caused to the victim.
  • Your child’s age. The juvenile court system had jurisdiction over minus between 12 and 18 years, according to Senate Bill 438. A juvenile can only be transferred to adult court if they are over 15 years old.
  • The availability of rehabilitation programs for your child under the juvenile justice system. The juvenile court has different rehabilitation programs for the treatment, education, and counseling of juvenile delinquents. If the programs required to rehabilitate your child are unavailable, they can be tried in adult court.
  • The success of past rehabilitation attempts. If past attempts to rehabilitate your child in juvenile court have been unsuccessful, they could be sent to adult court.
  • Degree of criminal sophistication. A person’s degree of criminal sophistication is determined by their ability to plan for an offense and make legitimate attempts to avoid capture. Minors exhibiting high criminal intent will be tried in adult court.

While your child is in adult court, they will enjoy similar rights to adult offenders, including the right to bail and a jury trial. However, this means your child can be tried, convicted, and entertained in adult prison. Incarceration in adult prisons can impact your child’s future behavior and mental well-being. Therefore, a child facing this hearing will require expert legal guidance to fight and keep them in juvenile court.

Adjudication Hearing

An adjudication or jurisdiction hearing acts as a trial in juvenile court. At this hearing, the prosecution will present the evidence before the judge. Additionally, your child’s defense team will have the right to present their evidence and cross-examine witnesses. A juvenile court case is presided over by a judge instead of a jury. At the end of the adjudication hearing, the judge can sustain or dismiss the petition against your child.

A juvenile petition will be sustained if the judge finds your child committed the offense for which they were arrested. If the allegations against the child are untrue, the juvenile petition will be dismissed, and your child can go home.

Disposition hearing

Juvenile courts will hold a disposition hearing if the juvenile petition is sustained. The disposition hearing is equivalent to the sentencing phase. Depending on your child’s case circumstances, the judge will determine the best disposition for the offender's rehabilitation. Common dispositions for juvenile offenders in California include:

  • Formal and informal probation.
  • Placement in a foster home.
  • Detention in the division of juvenile justice facilities.
  • Deferred entry of judgment.

Identify and Document that Can Help Your Child’s Case

A juvenile’s character significantly impacts the outcome of their juvenile delinquency case. The court can rely on family, friends, teachers, and the probation department's testimonies to ascertain the child’s conduct. When you learn of your child’s arrest and charges, you should gather documents to help confirm the child’s character.

Instead of praising the juvenile, you can offer character references. Some documents that can help you in this case include certificates of participation in sporting or community activities and evidence of counseling.

Other documents you can present in your child’s case are their medical records. The juvenile court is often lenient toward minors with serious medical conditions. This could help the child avoid dispositions like detention.

Educate Your Child on their Rights in the Juvenile Court System

Minors have rights that must be respected through the juvenile court system. As a parent, you must educate your child about their constitutional rights. This helps them make the right decisions and manage their interactions with law enforcement officers during the investigations.

The following are some of the rights that your child has during their arrest and as they move through the juvenile court system:

  • A right to remain silent. The moment following an arrest for committing a crime can be confusing for a minor, especially if they are a first-time offender. Your child may need to learn what to say to officers or what information to offer during this interaction. Fortunately, juveniles can remain silent until they have legal representation.
  • The right to be notified about their charges. Facing an arrest for something you know nothing about is an unpleasant experience. After an arrest, a juvenile must be notified of the charges for which they are being charged.
  • Right to a phone call. If your child is not released with a warning after an arrest, they have a right to at least one phone call. The juvenile can use this right to contact you or their attorney.
  • Right to legal representation. The juvenile court process is complicated. Therefore, your child has the right to hire and retain an attorney throughout the process.
  • Privilege against self-incrimination. And like in adult court, where the information you provide can be used in your case, juvenile offenders enjoy the privilege against self-incrimination. This means that whatever they say to law enforcement officers will not be used as evidence in their case.
  • A right to have their charges proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Before a judge sustains a juvenile petition against your child, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the child engaged in the alleged criminal acts. This will be done by presenting evidence of the child’s crime and proving all the elements of the underlying offense.

When you remind your child of their rights, they can feel more at peace with the situation and enforce this right even when you’re not around.

Familiarize with Parental Rights and Responsibilities

Whether or not your child is a habitual offender, the arrest can be an overwhelming process for you. You are their guardian while your child goes through the juvenile justice system. After learning of your child’s arrest, you should familiarize yourself with the following parental rights to ensure:

  • Right to be notified of your child’s arrest. Children as young as twelve can be arrested for violating California law. Not knowing the whereabouts of your child can be challenging as a parent. Fortunately, you can be notified when your child is arrested. This allows you to rush to their side and offer the necessary support.
  • Right to know your child’s constitutional rights. You could be informed about your child’s rights when you respond to the notification of their arrest.
  • Right to attend court hearings. The juvenile court system is more discreet than the criminal court process. This is to preserve the child's integrity and avoid unnecessary social stigma. However, as a parent, you have the right to be present at all the hearings scheduled for the child.
  • Right to inspect the child’s juvenile records. In California, juvenile records include arrest reports, evidence presented against the child, and juvenile reports. Accessing this information helps ensure that your child’s case was handled fairly, given the circumstances.

While you have rights in your child’s case, you must understand the following parental responsibilities:

  • You are responsible for covering the costs incurred in food, medical care, and clothing while your child is detained.
  • You must cover the court fines and victim restitution if they are part of the child’s disposition.

Find a Competent Criminal Defense Attorney Near Me

An arrest for committing a criminal offense can be a traumatizing experience, especially for minors. If it’s not your child’s first time dealing with law enforcement officers and the juvenile justice system, they may be unsure what to say or do to protect their rights. Since you have the right to be notified of your child’s arrest, you will learn of this incident as soon as your child is detained at the juvenile hall.

After an arrest, your child must undergo complicated juvenile court procedures. The steps you take after learning of your child’s arrest could impact the outcome of their case. The experience of having your child in detention is nerve-wracking. You should remain calm and offer support by reminding the child of their rights.

Additionally, you must remind yourself of your parental rights and responsibilities throughout the juvenile court system. Hiring and retaining a knowledgeable criminal defense attorney is one of the best choices you can make for your child’s case. At Los Angeles Criminal Attorney, we offer top-notch legal guidance for minors facing arrest and criminal charges in Los Angeles, CA. Call us today at 424-333-0943 to discuss the details of your child’s case.