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As you may know, there are repercussions for poor decisions, no matter your age. Unfortunately, children are more prone to making these mistakes than adults, and if your child is now facing legal penalties for an alleged delinquent act, our Cobb County juvenile crimes lawyer is ready to do everything in his power to fight for your child’s well-being. Contact the Miller Law Practice, LLC today to learn more about how we can help you and your child through every step of the legal process ahead.
If your child has recently been accused of an unruly act or a delinquent act, you should strongly consider retaining the legal services of a knowledgeable Cobb County criminal defense lawyer who can fight on behalf of your child.
When a child under the age of 17 breaks the law in Georgia, it is generally not referred to as committing a crime. Instead, if the child breaks the law, it will either be considered an unruly act or a delinquent act. A delinquent act is one that would be considered a crime, had it been committed by an adult.
Once a complaint is filed against the child, the Juvenile Court intake officer will determine whether the child should be detained. In most cases, as long as the unruly act or misdemeanor is the child’s first offense, the Court may handle the case informally through an adjustment, meaning the matter is resolved through conditions such as counseling, restitution, or community service without a formal adjudication before a Judge, which is why you need a skilled Cobb County juvenile crimes lawyer who can work to secure an informal resolution for your child at this stage.
That being said, if your child’s case is not handled informally, the District Attorney’s Office will file a petition, and from here, the Court will schedule an arraignment hearing where the child will hear the specific charges he or she is facing. The child, along with his or her attorney, will enter a guilty or not guilty plea. If the child enters a not guilty plea, he or she will then attend an Adjudicatory hearing, which is similar to a trial, wherein witnesses and victims are required to appear and divulge the details of the alleged crime. From here, the Judge will either adjudicate the child as a delinquent or dismiss the petition. If a child either admits to the crime or is adjudicated delinquent, the child will then attend a Dispositional hearing, wherein the Judge will determine the child’s sentence.
If a child is found guilty, he or she may face a wide variety of penalties, including the following:
In certain cases, yes, a minor between the ages of 13-17 can be tried as an adult in Georgia. However, this is only if they are accused of committing a particularly heinous crime. Some of the crimes that may allow a juvenile to be prosecuted as an adult in Georgia are as follows:
The offenses listed above are not ordinary transfer cases. Under O.C.G.A. § 15-11-560(b) — the statute enacted by Senate Bill 440 and still known to Georgia lawyers as the “Seven Deadly Sins” — the Superior Court has exclusive original jurisdiction over a child aged 13 to 17 charged with murder, voluntary manslaughter, rape, aggravated sodomy, aggravated child molestation, aggravated sexual battery, armed robbery with a firearm, and certain aggravated assaults and batteries against public safety officers.
The distinction matters enormously. In an ordinary case, the State must ask a Juvenile Court judge to send your child up. In a Seven Deadly Sins case, there is no such hearing. The case begins in Superior Court, and Juvenile Court has no jurisdiction at all. The available paths back down are narrow: the District Attorney may decline prosecution before indictment, or, for certain of the listed offenses but never for murder, rape, or armed robbery, the Superior Court may transfer the case after indictment. Both require an attorney who knows to ask.
Additionally, you should also note that your child may be tried as an adult if the prosecutor petitions the Superior Court. This generally happens when a child who is at least 15 years old at the time of the offense allegedly commits an act that would be considered a felony if the alleged offender was an adult. That being said, if a juvenile is convicted in Superior Court, he or she will be committed to the Department of Corrections, not the Department of Juvenile Justice. Unfortunately, this means your child will be sentenced just as an adult would be.
When a child is charged with a delinquent act, he or she has a lot on the line, and there is a very good chance that it may haunt them for the rest of their life. Contact the Miller Law Practice, LLC today so we can fight for your child to move on to a bright, productive future.
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