Having a child charged with a juvenile offense of any kind can be difficult on the entire family. Most often, your child’s trouble with the law is symptomatic of deeper issues that need to be addressed.
When a juvenile is in trouble with the law, the state’s main goal is to handle the case in as efficient a manner as possible within the best interest of the juvenile. Similarly, the defense’s goals in a juvenile case in Tulsa, Oklahoma are the continuity of family, the preservation of the juvenile’s future, and the rehabilitation of his or her behavior.
The Defense’s Goals in a Juvenile Case in Tulsa, Oklahoma
1) When a lawyer deals with a juvenile case in Tulsa, there are typically three objectives, the first of which is to keep the youth out of custody and at home with his or her family. Your attorney may achieve this goal by pursuing an informal resolution which might result in one or more of the following actions:
- a stern lecture from the judge or prosecutor;
- an order to attend mandatory counseling;
- an order to perform mandatory community service;
- restitution payment to the victim(s) of the crime; or
- a probation sentence.
Any of these conclusions will be more preferable than adjudicating the case in juvenile court.
2) Keeping your juvenile’s record clean and keeping the child out the criminal justice system is important to preserving his or her future, so the second objective in a juvenile case in Tulsa is to keep the offense off of the minor’s record to prevent him or her from acquiring a criminal record that will haunt the child for the rest of his or her life. Fulfilling this objective may require accepting a plea bargain that will require your juvenile to admit to the charges in exchange for a delayed or deferred sentence, where if he or she satisfies all of the conditions of the sentence, the charges will be dismissed.
3) The third goal is to help get the minor’s life back on track. All aspects of the juvenile’s life need to be examined in order to determine what caused him or her to get in trouble in the first place. Be it drugs, alcohol or hanging out with the wrong crowd, these issues need to be addressed.
This should also include an assessment of the juvenile’s family life and mental health, which are often the reasons that lead so many youths into the juvenile justice system.
Thus, the goal in a juvenile case in Tulsa is not only to get the youth out of the juvenile court system and out of trouble now, but to get his or her life back on track and out of the system by dealing with the underlying issues which led the minor there in the first place.
Free Consultation: Tulsa Criminal Attorney
If your juvenile has been charged with a crime in Tulsa, Oklahoma, come and explain the situation to an experienced Tulsa juvenile defense attorney. Let us see what we can do to get your child out of juvenile court and back on the right track.
A Tulsa criminal attorney can advise you how the juvenile justice process works and offer answers to your specific questions. To begin your free consultation, call now: 918-256-3400.