As someone who is facing the prospect of your child being charged with a crime, it can be an incredibly difficult and confusing time. The thought of your child being considered an adult in the eyes of the law is a daunting one, with potential serious consequences. Understanding when children can be charged as adults…
Continue reading ›Articles Posted in juvenile law
A 602 petition is the formal charging document in California juvenile delinquency proceedings. Filed by the district attorney under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 602, it asks the juvenile court to declare a minor a ward of the court based on allegations that the child violated state or federal law. The petition applies to minors…
Continue reading ›A juvenile case in Orange County can still move forward even if the victim refuses to cooperate with the prosecution. The district attorney can rely on police reports, physical evidence, witness statements, and other documentation to sustain the petition under WIC 602. Parents who assume a case will be dropped because the victim does not…
Continue reading ›California closed its state-run Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) under Senate Bill 823, shifting responsibility for serious juvenile offenders to county-level programs and extending the maximum age of juvenile court jurisdiction. For families in Orange County, this means teens adjudicated for serious offenses now remain in local facilities, including the Orange County Probation Department’s Juvenile…
Continue reading ›A plea agreement in California juvenile court is not the same as pleading guilty in adult court. When a minor accepts a plea in juvenile proceedings, the child admits to the petition filed under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 602, and the court sustains the charges rather than entering a conviction. The Law Office of…
Continue reading ›If a family moves out of Orange County while a child has an open juvenile case, the case does not go away. Under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 750, the juvenile court in Orange County can transfer jurisdiction to the county where the family relocates. The Law Office of Katie Walsh handles juvenile criminal defense…
Continue reading ›California’s juvenile court system is built around confidentiality, and the courtroom is not open to the public the way adult criminal court is. But parents and guardians have specific rights to attend and participate in their child’s hearings. At the Law Office of Katie Walsh, our Orange County juvenile defense attorney works closely with parents…
Continue reading ›A juvenile firearm possession allegation can move quickly and trigger immediate consequences at school and in court. Even when a teen insists the firearm was not theirs or did not know it was present, the system may still treat the situation as possession and move forward aggressively. If you are searching for an Orange County…
Continue reading ›Status offenses catch many families off guard because the behavior is treated as unlawful only due to a child’s age. A parent may think the issue is attendance, curfew, or conflict at home, and then a juvenile referral appears with deadlines and consequences. If you are looking for an Orange County juvenile attorney, the Law…
Continue reading ›Teen rideshare incidents can escalate quickly when a trip ends in a crash, a confrontation, or an allegation that pulls police into the situation. Families in Orange County can end up dealing with two tracks at once: civil responsibility on the insurance side and juvenile exposure on the court side. If you are looking for…
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