Juvenile Law

shoplifting at 17 turning 18 in one month need information

StupidAtTheMoment — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 04:01:47 GMT

Hello, i know now what i did was bad, i've disapointed alot of people, and i probly deserve whatever i get, but i just want to know if anyone has any advise for me or information it would really help. I don't want to end up a bad person, it wasn't my intention to end up stealing things but i did. I take responsability for it. I was very stupid. I was shoping and didn't have enough to get what i wanted and needed so i put a bunch in my bag thinking nothing of it. I live in Arizona. i'm 17 but turning 18 in one month, last i heard they said i stole like $300 but thats way pushing it, no way i stole that much. they took me to the little holdy cell and took my information and called the police. Then the police took my information and released me to my gaurdian. I have no record and am a senior in highschool and a freshman in collage, I get good grades, i just want to know: Am i really being charged with a felony?-i've heard of minors who were never charged just because they were minors and the police were called to scare them, i've also heard of people who were dropped because it would cost [the store] more to be represented in court than they stole. if so am i going to pay a fine?- I never took anything out of the store, they stopped me at the blipper thingies. Will it be expunged?-if i am charged with fine and probation will it show up after i turn 18, even tho i'm a month away? If i am charged, when do you think that will be? Do you think I will be charged as a minor or as an adult? This is my first offense, my education is very important to me and i'm too poor to pay for it myself. I'm enlisted in a program that pays for collage while a student is still in high school. This is very important to me. I fear this may effect that. I fear that if i am charged with anything it will stay on my record and impede me for the rest of my life. I made a stupid decision, and there really is no excuse for it. I was told by a friend whom I asked "Well first off your in luck, being 17 yrs. old you will not be tried as an adult. I guarantee you that, nor will any of this show up anywhere once you turn 18 yrs. old. Your juvenile record will be sealed, period. And no its not a felony, its a misdemeanor called "Petty Theft". Being your so close to turning 18 yrs. old I doubt they'll even adjudicate it. Rather wait until you turn 18 and see if you chose to continue in your sticky finger ways? And your not thrown out of [the store] for life, its only a one or two year time bar. They usually tell you that? Don't worry to much, most is being done and said to scare you. Regardless though steeling isn't right, and the stores these days have quite the security systems designed to catch the petty thieves. I hope this helps somewhat? Good luck." But I'm so worried about it, I need a second opinion. If anyone has any information, or just to reasure what my friend said was correct, please say so, thank you very much, any post is greatly appreshiated.

Juvenile Criminal Trespassing

diehard2024 — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 02:35:43 GMT

I live in a mobile home park. We have been here for two months. The neighbor next to us accused my daughters, 16 and 15, and a friend of walking across the lot he rents as they were coming home from school(we and they are renters, none of us own the lot). My daughters deny it and say they deliberatedly avoided his lot because many families in the park have had problems with these neighbors so we knew the potential for problems existed. The neighbor told the deputy he had a photo as proof but the photo only showed a shoulder, no face. This photo could be of anyone taken at anytime. The deputy charged our teens with criminal trespassing based on the photo and testimony of the neighbor. Do the neighbors have the burden of proof in court? As renters of the lot, can they charge criminal trespassing or does the property manager have the ultimate say. The property manager appears to be on our side as she has had numerous complaints about the neighbors prior to our moving in two months ago. Do I need an attorney? Can written testimony from other neighbors and/or the property manager be admitted in our defense?

pc 12021e,12025a2 please some advise

kristy1978 — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:30:10 GMT

so my boyfriend was arrested on a 12025a2 he was not carrying the fire are it was unloaded it was in the house he was outside in front yard .and they added 12021e i thnk theyr tryn to bring up his juvinile record he is now 25 with no adult record only drivn without a license. at court today the attorny said they can't use the 12021e he needed to research that and coyrt to continue on sep 23rd im so confused on whats ganna happen! his attoney is a way to busy to return my calls i even emaild him for a bail; reduction no response !!anyone think they can give me some advise pleasee thanks.

Shoplifting

jawllms — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:22:58 GMT

I have a 16 year old son that was charged with shoplifiting 180 dollars worth of stuff from a department store. Can a minor be charged with shoplifiting in arizona.

Charges for swearing/bodily injury on FB while on new meds

Appreciate your feedback — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:58:40 GMT

My daughter was logged into her Facebook (FB), then a friend (at the time) entered a chat session with her, calling her names, and threatening her for stealing her boyfriend, then exited the chat session. My daughter went to the girls FB page and swore back, and threatened bodily injury. Since this is going on w/o my knowledge, I am not printing out Chat sesssions, but the mother of the other girl printed out her daughter's FB postings and gave those to the police officer (and friend). Now my kid has a felony & misdemeanor charge.....went to court w/ court appointed attorney....she received a year supervised probation. Since my daughter has no prior convictions and was recently prescribed a new anti depressant, and the doctor had her on a higher dose than what was recommended at the time of this offense......all documented...........should I get an attorney and get all these charges dropped? I have so many days to appeal. Appreciate your response.

How to appeal a suspended license for a minor in CA?

brendan12333 — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 01:39:58 GMT

Hello, today i have a question for anyone who might know a little more about this topic. Basically when i was 14 i was pretty stupid and got a citation for Posession of marijuana on school grounds, in the state of california. I was fined $35 along with 35 hours of community service and had to complete a drug/alcohol program all of which i completed on time.
But the penalty for the certain code also imposed a 1 year drivers license suspension. For some reason there was also another charge listed as alcohol related, but there was no alcohol involved.

The posession of marijuana in school grounds in california does give out the 1 year suspension but my question is there any possible way to appeal this besides for a restricted drivers license? I am 15-1/2 At this moment in time but would like to start driving soon, i have not had any other offences on my record since then, and i have read on the dmv website about reevaluation forms to send to the office of Driver safety. would this be the correct form? if you've read through this much and could actually help then thanks i appreciate it very much!

need advice on collecting restitution please

Phillip R — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 02:56:41 GMT

Last year my car was involved in an hit and run accident. The defendant had no license nor insurance and was convicted and ordered to pay me 16,800$ the value of my car which was a total loss. I recently received a check from the county for 27.50$. I called and ask the clerk at the county and they stated that the defendant was ordered to pay monthly payments of 27.50$ . I stated that those payments would take the defendant 50 years to pay off. They stated I have rights and could always seek legal advice and there's nothing more they could do for me. At the point I'm really fustrated and don't know really where to turn to. I'm seeking advice please. I also live in the Highland california area

Can a friend of mine work as a Licensed Electrical engineer?

A11AN — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 06:27:54 GMT

State: CA

About 4 years ago my friend (he is now 19 years old) was convicted of a felony for aggravated battery, and went to jail for about a year. He now wants to go back to school to get a bachelors in engineering. Will he be able to work as an electrical engineer in the state of California if he has a past criminal record? My friend is actually seeking legal advice on this matter, but i told him to wait a few days to see what information i'd be able to find out, through lawyers.com. Is expunging the record necessary?

Thank you, ahead of time.

Demand Letter

HeartnOk — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 15:36:58 GMT

I get a demand letter from a law firm basically demanding that I pay them a $250 fine or they "MAY" recommend taking further actions for their client for civil actions. I was in shock and new nothing about this. So I ask my 17 year old daughter "what is going on?". She tells me that when she spent the night at a friends house a couple weeks ago, they went to buy hair dye. Her friend decided to shoplift some make-up. My daughter was trying to talk her friend out of it. My daughter has a retail job and bought the hair dye and had the receipt to prove it. They got caught and taken back to the office. The police came. The other girl is being charged with shop lifting. My daughter was at first being charged as an accessory. That has since been dropped and my daughter is not being charged with anything. I talked directly to the officer myself. Upon reviewing the video, they realized that my daughter actions do look that she was trying to talk the friend out of it. My daughter never signed anything, was never cited for anything. Not only that, [they] never called me to come get my minor child. They released her to the other girls Uncle that came and picked up the girls. So my questions is, if my child is not being criminally charged, she did not sign anything, the friend who was shop lifting return the merchandise, what civil actions can they take against me? There are no punitive damages on my child's part. She is not being charged with anything, excpet what this law firm is trying to extort. Anyone have any thought on this subject or had to deal with anything like this? I googled this firms name and apparently they send out thousands of these letter all across the United States for several retailers. If my child were the child who was shop lifting and was being charged for such, I would pay they fee, but my issue is that my child is not being charged with anything.

Too scared to act

Doingtherightthing — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:55:36 GMT

My soon-to-be 18 y/o daughter was cited two weeks ago for complicity re: two slimebags(inc. her "boyfriend"-gag ack barf) being cited for theft/shoplifting. In a nutshell, she was too scared to do anything. She hasn't been cited----yet. Spoke with the county Juvenile Detention folks who tell me that the most she COULD be looking at is a stern lecture and a Stop Shoplifting class from the county. Good or bad?

My 12 Year old daughter was caught shoplifting

Downtoearth1 — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 02:44:12 GMT

My 12 year old daughter was caught shop lifting a $10 necklace at a retail store in Maryland.

It was the only incident in her life, she is usually afraid of her own shadow.

I was given a notice to ban the whole family from the mall for a year by the mall's security officer.

The police officer took personal information from my daughter and told me I will be getting something in the mail, I don't know what.

Does anyone have any idea what is going to happen, I am very scared and she is very scared too. She is a B Honor student.

Thank you

1 st time offender

mother-in-law — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 01:37:43 GMT

Hi, my son in law was convicted of possion of child porn 3 counts he was never in trouble with the law before this and dont think that he realized what he had downloaded until we informed him that fbi/task force going to get his computer to check it, he was told that at the arraginment hearing that the d.a ,the judge and his att. and he were gonna go the the judes chambers and discuss the charges. but what happened was totally different instead his public defender spoke on his behalf, no even speaking the the boy before hand to hear what he had to say about the charges being brought against him, the pd took him out the court room and told him what was to happened and asked him if he wanted to plead guilty and take the plea bargin, i know the boy did not understand what the pd explained to him. when he gets out of jail they told him that he has to register as a sex offender for 25 years, please remember that this is very first offense, was he treated fairly?

petition to remove name from sex offender registry

drummergirl49735 — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 01:18:21 GMT

my fiance was adjudicated as a juvenile (age 13) of csc 2nd degree....he doesn't qualify for expungement because it was 2nd degree, the judge told him to file for a petition to have his name removed from the PSOR, one catch, I guess the government only offered a small window of opportunity for this to be done and if you didn't do it in that window you missed the boat ( I live in Michigan) He was never informed of the opportunity to file this petition. he has a clean record, he is 26 years old....can we file a motion to have name removed and change of restrictions, giving adequate cause (death threats etc..) From what I've researched it is the juvenile justice specialists job to inform juvenile sex offenders of all registration changes and any opportunity to have their name removed etc...why was my fiance not informed of this once in a lifetime opportunity and what can we do....I am preparing to file a motion with the court if that is possible....I'm willing to do anything possible.....

Guilty as charged, how best to approach the hearing

chrose1201 — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:30:28 GMT

Thanks for the comments regarding my sons charge of "Underage possession of alcohol". Regardless of whether he was in actual possession or not he was there and made no effort to distance himself from the activities, therefore he has no leg to stand on.

As far as I know the possible punishments are a $50 fine, or community service, or an alcohol class of some sort or perhaps a combination.

The area we are going to is about 45 miles away. Community service would be a potential hardship for transportation. He is also a good kid with no alcohol issues. A $50 fine would be his best possible outcome. Does anyone have any recommendations as to how best to steer the outcome in this direction?

Thanks as always for the help.

Dad

Student Loan ~ School failed to certify ~ ruins kids credit!

GODMUTHA — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:37:55 GMT

[name removed] UNIVERSITY!

FAILS TO CERTIFY MY SONS STUDENT LOAN AND RUINS HIS CREDIT!

THAT IS NOT HIS FAULT AND WE NEED HELP OR OPTIONS ~ THIS IS UNFAIR

Shoplifting charge with Probation

cshell4642 — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:55:14 GMT

I have a quick question, if anyone can answer, I would appreciate it. My son got caught shoplifting, he was 16 at the time. He pleaded guilty and since it was his first ( and last) offense, the judge put him on the "Consent calender" He had to take some written tests, Community Service, which he has started on, and meet with a Probation Officer. This P.O. is insisting on "Home visits". which I find an Invasion of my Privacy. Do I have to allow this man into my house? We've been told it's no big deal and I have nothing to hide, except my house is not the best. I am afraid of what else might come of this if I allow him to come here.

Thanks,

ABC law regarding unlawful posession of alcohol by a minor

chrose1201 — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 18:10:57 GMT

Hello all. I would like another opinion on the defense to this. My son was at a concert at a theme park. As they were wating to go in they were in the parking lot with a thousand other people, not unlike a tailgate before a football game.

My son is 18. A friend that they went with is 20 and her grandfather or Father gave her a six pack of Mikes Hard Lemonade which was in the cooler along with their food and sodas. The sheriffs were in force that day and spotted an open container on the ground in their vicinity. It was not in anyones actual possession. The deputy gathered them all had them show him id and then had them blow a breathalyzer. He then issued summons to all of them for underage possession. In a crowd of people, without actual evidence of possession is it legal to subject them to a breathalyzer test and a ticket for possession when in fact there was no actual evidence just an assumption. No mention was ever made of breathalyzer results.

Are their any legal legs to stand on here in terms of having the summons thrown out? Thoughts?

Thanks.

Drug Charge

lawrumors — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 02:27:57 GMT

My friends son got arrested for a drug charge (cocaine), and we are thinking of the best thing to do before going to court. Since his court date is not for a month, and we already posted bail - we want to do all we can to make sure that he gets the help he needs and at the same time doesnt do hard time. We were thinking of sending him to a credible teen rehab in our area.... hes 17. We were thinking that this would not only help him - but encourage the judge to look fondly on him. Does this make sense? We are thinking of using public representation, but at the same time we want to make sure we do what we need to now.

What else could we do besides rehab, to make sure the judge looks fondly? Gather school grades, community activities, letters of reccomendation? He's a good kid, just got in the wrong crowd.

Vehicular Concealed Carry

wilco.indigo.lima — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:41:09 GMT

I'm 17 years old, reside in Texas, and am about to go on an extended road trip on my own to another Texas location, but I want to carry a firearm concealed in my car. From what I understand, I'm allowed to do this as long as I'm not committing a crime above a Class C Misdemeanor, not engaged in a criminal gang, and it is not carried in plain sight. My question is: is there an age limit concerning this law?

Officer gets [mad] and puts me on probation?

AVentura — Sat, 22 May 2010 12:08:08 GMT

Monday i was pulled over for speeding. I had 1.5 grams of pot in my pockets but when they searched me and my car they found nothing but some shake on the floor and a couple stems in a cup. The cop walks up to me and says "I'll make you a deal, if you give me whats on you right now i'll just send you home with a speeding ticket." So i gave him what was on me and he let me go.

On Friday my mom wanted me to go to the police station and talk to the officer about drugs and what-not. We got talking and when i told him about my life and how i got started smoking pot he got [angry] and put me on probation. Can he just put me on probation like that?

I live in the state of Indiana, and i'm 17 years old.

caught shoplifting at age 17 need help please...

Sparkii — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 04:56:07 GMT

well im 17 and got caught shoplifting in indiana and i stay in illinios. i stole an amount about $155 worth ( basicially under $200 ) . i have a court date on 8/27/09 but i turn 18 on 8/20/09. will i end up being tried as an adult? this is my first offense i ever had and i don't have a criminal history at all. yes i am a good student ( been on honor roll my whole life ) , involved in clubs and i even won some " government acheivement awards ". Anyway, they charged me for a class A misdemeanor ( conversion ) I.C. 35-43-4-3. i did have to pay an $100 fine for the store losses but what will happen next when i go to court? or what should i do or say? i have learned my lesson , honestly. THANKS. i have posted this question before on another website and some of the responders ( about 3 lawyers and public DA's answered ) said i should start doing community service now so it can look good towards the judge. Also what is going to happen to me when i go to court and what are they going to say? i should mention my mother is going to me and she has a disablity ( she is hearing impaired but can speak a little ) i requested a sign lanuage interpreter when i talked to my " assigned " probation officer ( i guess thats the title of the lady i talked to when i called, soo my court papers say ). i didnt show up my initial meeting with my probation officer to fill out some forms before the actual court date b/c my mom had gotten into a car accident and we didnt have a car at the time. also i start college on 8/31/09 and i didnt want the court date to interfere with my college start date at the time. soo the probation officer lady waived it and said i would just have to fill out the papers when i get to court. since it got waived, the date moved up to the current date 8/27/09. alot of people said this will look good towards the judge since it shows that i am trying to focus on school right now. did i do the right thing? i cant afford a lawyer b/c we are having financial problems and my mom filed for bankruptcy and i almost wasnt able to afford to get into the college i want to go to. this has been a big stress on me right now and financial troubles and stress and pressure is the reason i stole , but that shouldnt be an excuse. we all have a chance to make mistakes big or small as teens & this is my mistake. ( im thinking about saying that to the judge ). should i say that? or keep it short, simple and to the point?

Do I have to seal/expunge/ clear my police record?

A11AN — Sun, 16 May 2010 20:18:28 GMT

State: CA County: LA

Hello I got into some trouble in school a few years back when i was 15 years old...the cops were called, but the parents of the kid i got in trouble with decided NOT to press charges... the officer just talked to me, asked for my birthday, and told me; "don't worry, this won't go any further, boys will be boys, you could have been arrested for this, just don't do it again."

My question is, am i supposed to clear this police record? Do job employers have access to this file? Do universities have access to this file?

I clearly know very little about this. Please help!

Son 12 accused of assult, and harrased.

Kaymen — Fri, 14 May 2010 17:02:18 GMT

My son is 12 YO with high functioning autisim, was accused by a classmate of grabbing her arm. The school found that this was not true and he never had even a detention. The family escalated the incident to the superintendent, and MA state board of education. They all found my son was innocent. The school assigned a one on one aid to my son and he is with her every minute of the school day. Even though this violates his IEP we have excepted it for his protection.

Even with the aid with him the family has made several more accusations (all found to be untrue by the school) the aid was with him during the times they claim he assaulted the girl the second and third time. They have even gone so far as to accuse the aid of bringing my son over to the girl.

My son is not the only student they are after, they have also thretened charges against school officials for various offenses. These people are known in the town as the local nut jobs. I have even been told that by the police but they continue to file bogus charges because they can.

They have now filled 2 assault charges with the police and just filled a harassment prevention order under a new MA law that went into effect on May 10th. My son has the distinction of being the first person in this court district to be charged under this new law. We are going to court on the 24th to fight the extension of this order. The new law is like a restraining order he is not allowed to have any avoidable contact with her at school which he doesnt. The issue is she seeks him out, waits outside his classroom at the end of the day so he can't leave, hangs around outside my wifes truck when she is picking up my son (with her mother present) and has even been seen pretending to be mentally hadicap to make fun of my son.

They now claim they have a diary of 50 incidents with my son assaulting and intimadating their daughter. During the course of all of the issues they have brought up this "Diary" has never been mentione.

Is a diary admissible or is it considered hearsay? They have never mentioned the diary before and could have created it at any time. How can the court know it was created when they claim it was? This is a civil hearing we have to go to so they can get the order extended. The order basically sets up my son so that any further claims will be a criminal matter. I could let it go but at this point i'm not willing to let them win. My son has done nothing, not only that he has been proven to have done nothing by the school, and by witness'. The girl on the other hand is a known bully suspended recently for punching someone in the face. How am I supposed to defend my son against crazy? We have no money for a lawyer and no prospect of getting any.

Can son go on field trip?

deb999 — Tue, 11 May 2010 18:07:08 GMT

My child was arrested for vandalism and has already completed his community service but is on house arrest until Sep. 2010. He is in middle school and the band is going on a field trip to play in a band competition and then they will go to a theme park for the rest of the day. Is my child allowed to go since he is on house arrest and I will not be one of the chaperones? (He is allowed out of the yard if he's with me). This is a school activity but it is on a Saturday. Please let me know as it is coming up soon and I have already paid for him to attend.

"Door checking"

overit10 — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 20:52:27 GMT

I am going to try to make this as short as possible but with all of the pertinent information. My son who is 17 picked up another 17 year old to buy him cigerettes. the other 17 yr apparently can buy cigs at one of the local conv stores in town. My son has been told sev times he is not to be with this kid, obv he didn't always listen.

They go to the store, the passenger tells my son, too many people there lets ride around, they go down a street and past a kid, the passenger does not like, he tells my son, the driver, to turn around. My son states, he said ok as they were going back in that direction to get cigs anyway. he stated as they approached the kid, the passenger, opened the car door in to the kid. My son said he was like what are you doing and the passenger told him just go go go, so my son stated he just went went went, and dropped this kid off at home.

Now, here is what we know for sure:

They did slow down long enough to make sure the kid stood up, (wow..that was nice of them)

The kid who did it the passenger admitted and stated the kid deserved it so thats why he did it

The kid was not hurt, seriously (thank God), obviously he had some road rash and was taken to hosp to be looked over

My family reported the incident (not the kid who got hurt nor the kid who did it, we did)

The family of the kid it happened to knows us well and stated all along, they did not want my son in any trouble, however once they found out it wasnt exactly "random" and the passenger told my son to turn around then they changed their tune. While I understand their frustration, they know my son and family well and know he would not do anything to hurt anyone. My son stated he thought he was going to yell at him he had not idea he was going to (door check him...as i later found out this is what it is called).

Also, I should note when I mentioned "money to this family then their tuned changed and it was o well maybe we can work something out. At any rate we have an attorney as no one in my family has ever been in legal trouble and we are all freaking out.

My questions is this, we live in a very small town <6000 people this happened over a week and a 1/2 ago and still not charges is that normal?

Also in the midst of this my son did get a wreckless driving ticket as after the incident he was freaked out, and wanted to get this kid out of his car asap, so apparently he was driving eradic and an off duty officer called in a complaint on him.

What I have done to punish him is:

He cannot go anywhere

He is paying me back

I sold his car (next day)

He is in counseling

I don't know what else to do I am at my wits end

I don't get it, he makes good grades, hes involved in sports as a matter of fact he is on a relay team that is making state time. He is a Junior in HS and I am just praying this doesn't ruin him.

I should mention he has never been in trouble, however this passenger that was in his car has.