Juvenile theft charges

[advice_plz]

My son (15) was involved in a case where he was a passenger in a car that was taken for what they expected to be a joy ride. The driver took a turn to fast and hit a fence. The sheriff's office is pursuing grand theft auto charges against the driver (14) as the son of the woman whose car was taken stayed behind as lookout, as well as 2 other felonies..and are attempting to charge him as an adult. My son was in the backseat, has never been in any trouble before, and cooperated with the police in giving his statement of his participation. After questioning, I followed up the next day with the deputy who took his statement and he informed me that my son would be charged with misdemeanor fascilitation charges for being in the car. When we attended the hearing with the CDW, we were advised that the officer in charge of the case (who never met my son) filed a Complicity charge which is a felony, and the prosecuting attorney is demanding court. The CDW said he thinks that they want to hang this over my son's head to get him to testify against the driver. My questions are: can the police change the charge against him, once they've told me what it would be? If so, and he doesn't participate in testifying against the driver (which seems unneccessary to me, as it's in his written statement), and they refuse to lower the charge to a misdemeanor, how much trouble is he in? Also they have not been able to charge the driver with anything, as they initially wanted to "surprise" them with the charges and the boy has ran away. Will this affect my son? He just wants to accept responsibility for HIS actions and receive his punishment so that we can move forward with our lives.

 

[army judge]

My son (15) was involved in a case where he was a passenger in a car that was taken for what they expected to be a joy ride. The driver took a turn to fast and hit a fence. The sheriff's office is pursuing grand theft auto charges against the driver (14) as the son of the woman whose car was taken stayed behind as lookout, as well as 2 other felonies..and are attempting to charge him as an adult. My son was in the backseat, has never been in any trouble before, and cooperated with the police in giving his statement of his participation. After questioning, I followed up the next day with the deputy who took his statement and he informed me that my son would be charged with misdemeanor fascilitation charges for being in the car. When we attended the hearing with the CDW, we were advised that the officer in charge of the case (who never met my son) filed a Complicity charge which is a felony, and the prosecuting attorney is demanding court. The CDW said he thinks that they want to hang this over my son's head to get him to testify against the driver. My questions are: can the police change the charge against him, once they've told me what it would be? If so, and he doesn't participate in testifying against the driver (which seems unneccessary to me, as it's in his written statement), and they refuse to lower the charge to a misdemeanor, how much trouble is he in? Also they have not been able to charge the driver with anything, as they initially wanted to "surprise" them with the charges and the boy has ran away. Will this affect my son? He just wants to accept responsibility for HIS actions and receive his punishment so that we can move forward with our lives.

First of all, your son should never have made any statement with out you being present.
You should not have allowed your son to make any statements until you had an attorney for your son present.
The more you do with this, the worse it will become for your son.

Tomorrow, HIRE your son an attorney.
He needs his own attorney.
If you can't afford an attorney, ask the court to appoint one for him.

From this point forward, do not speak to the prosecutor or the police.
They need your son's testimony to convict the other boy.
If your boy doesn't talk, no one gets convicted.

The police will play upon your emotions to get you to cooperate with their prosecution.
That is not what a defendant is supposed to do.
You are not required to hang your self.
You are not required to say anything.

Before you speak with the police about anything, you need a plea agreement signed by the prosecutor.
The police can't authorize any deals.
Your son is facing a serious charge, an adult charge.
A kid with no record should be petitioned to juvenile court.

The prosecutor needs meat.
The big, juicy ham ran away.
Now they look to feast on some rib tips.
That is your son.

Please, stop talking until you have retained your own attorney.
I've told you how to do that.
You need not be rude when the police or the prosecutor come calling, but simply say; "I want a lawyer. I'm sorry, my son will say nothing more until he and I have consulted with an attorney."
Continue to be polite, but say nothing more about this case to anyone but your attorney.
Otherwise, your son will end up with an adult conviction and might end up in an adult prison!

 

[advice_plz]

Thank you so much for your very quick reply. I may have mis stated, my son's case will be heard in Juvenille court, they are going after the driver as an adult because he has been in some prior trouble and was already in the system, although it was mainly for write ups from school and nothing to me that warrants such harsh action on their part. I will acquire an attorney tomorrow. Do you think that my son's case being heard in juvenille court makes a difference in what the outcome will be? Honestly they (police and CDW) have led me to believe that my son will most likely receive probation and community service. I was mainly questioning if it was legal for them to change the charge. After your response, I'm more scared than ever for my son.

 

[army judge]

Thank you so much for your very quick reply. I may have mis stated, my son's case will be heard in Juvenille court, they are going after the driver as an adult because he has been in some prior trouble and was already in the system, although it was mainly for write ups from school and nothing to me that warrants such harsh action on their part. I will acquire an attorney tomorrow. Do you think that my son's case being heard in juvenille court makes a difference in what the outcome will be? Honestly they (police and CDW) have led me to believe that my son will most likely receive probation and community service. I was mainly questioning if it was legal for them to change the charge. After your response, I'm more scared than ever for my son.

Goodness gracious, you have no worries.
I hate to see children, especially good kids, tried in adult courts.
No, your son will never see an adult prison for this little blip.
He'll never even see the inside of a juvenile facility.
Your child should never have bene charged with anything.
He was a passenger in the car.
He didn't know what the other criminal had in mind.
How could he?
He's never done anything like that in his life.
In fact, I'm sure your son would have abandoned the entire effort had he known what that yoiunbg thug was up to!!!

You see where I'm going, right?
You need to keep your innocent lad headed in THAT direction, too!

Your boy didn't give that confession BEFORE you arrived did he?
Had they questioned you innocent, little man before you arrived?
If they did, his "confession" can be challenged. :yes:
No confession, no case.
But, if it gets you boy OFF, is that YOUR problem? :no:
The police should be seeking that ONE MAN GANG, :yes: that absconded.
That's the GUILTY one.
He's the one that terrorized your boy and threatened him.
Most of HIS kind do, you know!


When you retain your lawyer, you should seek TOTAL IMMUNITY for your son's testimony.
Without your son's HONEST account (of this horrendous night), there is no case.
I'm sure your attorney will advise you on how the next steps work.

 

[advice_plz]

Ok, Thank you very, very much. That is very much a relief. In answer to your question, they did question him once at school but he didn't give them any information, the 2nd time, I was present and I fell for the cops- if he cooperates, things will be much easier for him routine (you are right, they definetly played on my emotions) and encouraged him to cooperate and allowed him to give the written statement :blush. I have always tried to teach my son to "man up" and take responsibility for his actions- of course he knew better than to get in that car! But I realize now, that I did not handle this in a way that was legally beneficial to him, the deputy did however say that he would be happy to testify for my son about his cooperation, and good attitude and character, if that matters? And you are right about his not really wanting to participate. In his written statement he gives 3 accounts of where he doesn't want to participate, the 1st being that he wanted to stay behind with the other boy and was prodded into going, the 2nd the boy called and said the mom was up and he wanted them to come back..my son asked to get out at that point and the other boy just laughed and sped up, and finally after they drove the car back they let him out at the house and he encouraged them to be honest and tell the mom what happened because he knew they were "busted", but the other 2 boys took the car 2 drives down (brilliant! ) and stripped out the wires to try to make it look as though it had been hotwired (this is what totalled out the car).

I understand your advice and will follow it to a T. My son's concern is that he doesn't want his statement used against the driver. My concern of course is for my son. Hopefully following your advice will be beneficial to all parties.

I only wish our county attorney would pursue the unpaid child support from my AP with the zealous that he has pursued prosecuting these youth!