Juvenile Crime Lawyer in New York City

New York prosecutes children differently than adults. If your child has been accused of a crime, you must understand the complexities of the juvenile justice system. You need a juvenile crime lawyer to explain it to you.

Children are prosecuted in two different places, criminal courts and Family Court.

One of the most important things for you to understand is this: if your child is prosecuted, and the matter is resolved in Family Court, the proceedings can not result in a criminal conviction. If the prosecution of your child is resolved in a criminal court, the proceedings might or might not result in a criminal conviction.

However, even if prosecution does not result in a criminal conviction, your child can experience severe consequences.

Under the law, a child is a "juvenile delinquent" in Family Court if: (1) the child is at least 7 years old and less than 16 years old at the time of time of the incident; and (2) the child committed an act that would constitute a crime if committed by an adult; and either (3a) the child is not criminally responsible for such conduct due to the child's age; or (3b) the child is the defendant in a case that has been moved from a criminal court to Family Court.

Though juvenile delinquency adjudications are not criminal convictions, Family Courts can impose a range of "dispositions" similar to the sentencing options available in criminal courts. Family Court dispositions include "conditional discharge", "probation", "placement" and "restrictive placement".

If a child is convicted of a felony in a criminal court, and the court does not enter a youthful offender adjudication, then the child will have a criminal record for life.

A child prosecuted in a criminal court is a "youth" if: 1) the child allegedly committed a crime when the child was at least 16 years old and less than 19 years old; or 2) if the child allegedly committed certain very serious crimes when the child was at least 13 years old and less than 16 years old. Every youth convicted of a crime has the possibility of being adjudicated a "youthful offender", unless: 1) the conviction is for a class A felony (murder in the second degree, kidnapping in the first degree, etc.); or 2) the youth previously was sentenced as a felon; or 3) the youth previously was adjudicated a youthful offender following a felony conviction; or 4) the youth was previously adjudicated a juvenile delinquent in connection with certain very serious felonies.

Though youthful offender adjudications are not criminal convictions, criminal courts can sentence youthful offenders. Sentencing options include: conditional discharge, probation, and imprisonment. Four years is the maximum term of imprisonment that can be imposed under a youthful offender sentence.

Criminal Court and Family Court proceedings differ in many ways. For example, Family Court proceedings do not involve plea bargaining to the same extent as criminal courts. For this reason, Family Court proceedings are more likely to go to trial than criminal court proceedings.

Family Court trials are decided by individual judges. Criminal court trials are usually decided by juries.

At the initial Family Court appearance, the child will either be released or detained. Unlike criminal courts, Family Court does not release children on bail. Where the child is detained, trials occur much more quickly than they do in criminal courts.

Call me today at 646-360-0290 for your FREE consultation with a juvenile crime lawyer.