Criminal Trials, Hearings Subpoenaing a Minor

[rgha]

My son is 17 and a witness to fight between two teenage girls(No injury). I do not want him to testify. What can I do. What rights do I have or him to not testify. This is in the state of Flordia

 

[BayState]

My son is 17 and a witness to fight between two teenage girls(No injury). I do not want him to testify. What can I do. What rights do I have or him to not testify. This is in the state of Flordia

Do you have a valid reason for not wanting your son to testify?

 

[rgha]

First, I don't want him to miss school for a silly fight where no one was injuried. Secondly, I believe he would be OK while the prosecutor talks to him, however when he is cross examined he will give in just to be done with being questioned.

 

[rgha]

Thanks for all the help!!! GREAT SITE!!!

 

[CdwJava]

What do you expect from volunteers?

If you want precise and immediate replies, consult local legal counsel.

In short, if your son is issued a subpoena to appear in court, he will have to go. If he fails to go he - and, perhaps, you - can be arrested. If you REALLY want to fight the subpoena, be prepared for him to miss additional school because you will have to hire an attorney who will seek to quash the subpoena ... not sure on what grounds, but he can probably come up with something that is threadbare but viable.

So, if you want to prevent him from responding to a subpoena he'll miss school anyway, more than likely, and it will cost you a bucket of money.

Your call.

- Carl

 

[rgha]

I found out you can get out of a subpoena. You just have to be persistent with the state attorney. I contacted the state attorney general's office for advice and made a complaint about the way me and my son have been treated by the assistant state attorney. It also helps to contact the court administrator who if asked nicely will talk to the judge. The judge in turn did nothing, however, the state attorney heard of all the problems I was stirring up, and decided it would be better for my son not to appear.

Its a shame a law abiding citizen has to go to this extreme to be able to exercising thier constitutional rights.

If a witness is treated like this, I can just imange the treament of someone charged with a crime.

 

[CdwJava]

Yep, the court cannot easily void a subpoena as that would be directly effecting the case of one party or the other and would, potentially, open the court up to accusations of bias. Absent good cause, a judge is not going to tell a witness he or she does not need to attend.

The issuing agency, however, CAN recall the subpoena ... as you discovered.

- Carl