Children and young adults get in trouble every day. Whether they know exactly what they are doing or not, many young people end up in juvenile detention or even prison as a young adult.
Many parents struggle with what to do at this point. Do they hire a lawyer to help them through this time or do they let the public offender try the case? Many parents don’t want to spend the money on a private lawyer, especially when they feel that their child just made a harmless mistake. However, that way of thinking can lead to disastrous results for the entire family.
Here are some reasons why you need a criminal defense lawyer as a juvenile.
Even a juvenile record can impact the rest of your child’s life. If your child gets convicted of a crime (as a juvenile or an adult), his or her life will never be the same. He or she may struggle to get into college and get a serious job in the future because he or she has a criminal record. It can even impact his life when he needs to find a place to rent or even buy. He or she may be unfairly judged by society at large.
A lawyer will do everything possible to keep your child’s crime from appearing on his or her criminal record so that one little mistake won’t change the rest of your child’s life.
If your child is tried as a juvenile, you are going to have to prove to the judge that your child is innocent. Juvenile courts do not have juries. Instead, you will have to prove to the judge that your child made a mistake or was innocent. This can be very difficult to do. A judge can be very intimidating.
The best way to win in juvenile court is by having an experienced lawyer talk to the judge and Prosecutor. Too many parents and young adults try to go to trial without a lawyer and that often times ends in disaster for the entire family.
Even worse, without a lawyer, your child may be tried as an adult. Your lawyer will fight to keep your child’s case out of adult court. He or she will do everything that they can to ensure that your child is tried as a juvenile.
If you don’t have a lawyer and your child ends up being tried as an adult, he or she is looking at serious consequences. Your child may spend months or even years in jail!
A lawyer will fight the punishment that is assigned for your child. Even if your child is accused and convicted of a crime, your lawyer’s job is not done. He will fight the punishment to make it more fair.
A good lawyer will do everything that he can to keep your child out of jail, fighting for probation instead. He or she may even be able to decrease any fines or other possible consequences that your child may be facing. In some cases, a conviction can be avoided even with a guilty plea.
You need to find the best lawyer possible and right away. An experienced and aggressive lawyer will talk to you about the options that you have, while doing everything possible to keep your child’s record clean. Otherwise, one mistake has the can ruin your child’s life. Finding employment, home and even social acceptance may become extremely hard with a criminal record.
Contact us for all of your legal needs. We would be glad to discuss your child’s case in order to help your entire family through this difficult time.