Why Should I Retain a Colorado Juvenile Criminal Lawyer?

The Question, should I or do I need to hire an attorney for my child’s Colorado juvenile delinquency proceeding is an important one to parents.

The Answers to that question can be complex.

Many believe that a juvenile criminal delinquency charge is no big deal and not a serious matter. The issue for every parent I have ever discussed this with is will the juvenile criminal case impact their child’s future.

The truth is in this day of backgrounds checks and the invasion of the internet into our private lives a juvenile criminal charge can have a dramatic affect on your child’s future in their adult lives.

Defending Colorado Juvenile criminal cases starts with defending the case before charges are filed. The District Attorney in every county in the state has the authority the discretion to file charges to not file charges to file charges that overstate (overcharge) their case or to file charges that understate the evidence.

An experienced juvenile crimes lawyer will seek to have an impact on this early decision. Critical to this intervention is to prevent the DA from filing charges in Adult Court in a serious juvenile case. Negotiations can occur with the prosecutor immediately after the incident happens the DA may be persuaded to not file charges to divert the case out of the courts altogether or to at least keep the case in juvenile court. Keeping your son or daughter’s criminal case out of adult court is extremely important.

You might ask why it is important to keep your child’s charge out of adult court? The answer is obvious the possibility of a permanent criminal history prison or county jail time and the dangers of an approach that does not favor rehabilitation.

The juvenile courts are all about second chances and the rehabilitation of immature young people and their poor judgement. Adult court is focused on protecting the community and isolation of threats to that community.

Criminal records are today easily accessible to the public especially employer background checks. The ability to plan a career find a job or even locate and secure suitable housing are all impacted by criminal convictions.

If your child is charged with a criminal traffic crime, he or she the child will be prosecuted in adult traffic court. In Colorado all criminal traffic cases are not heard in juvenile court the record they create is permanently on their adult “traffic” record.

As a parent your goal is to keep your child’s juvenile’s criminal history as clean as possible. The more specific goal is to assert defenses to the crimes charged to obtain a dismissal of the case failing that to have the case diverted (juvenile diversion) out of the courts or to prevent even the filing of charges in the first instance.

Juvenile records are considered private but that is a leaky bucket. Many authorities have access to Colorado juvenile criminal records and even though the general public does not always have access to your child’s juvenile record, state and federal law enforcement and other authorities always have access.

The military, the Marines, Coast Guard, Navy, and Army, have access to these records. Juvenile prosecutions can end military careers before they begin and your child can be denied admission into the military branches. This can occur even if a criminal charge is eventually dropped!

A Colorado juvenile record does not disappear when you turn 18. It follows you into criminal adult court. In adult court if you are arrested and charged with a crime a, the prosecutor. And I warn you about this because as a former career DA I did this the DA will look at the accused’s juvenile criminal history to determine whether to file charges and what type of plea offer to make. Furthermore Colorado juvenile adjudications can be used to enhance or increase the punishment in certain adult criminal cases leading to mandatory jail or mandatory prison.

As noted today background checks are commonly performed on job placement candidates. Certain juvenile crimes cannot be sealed or expunged and are permanent. A list of these can be found online (LINK). Study this list.

The conclusion is this even a minor juvenile criminal charge can have many unforeseen consequences for your child charged with a juvenile crime. It costs nothing to run the case past an experienced Colorado juvenile criminal defense lawyer I suggest you do that

Please call our law firm if you have questions about.

H. Michael Steinberg has been a Colorado criminal law specialist attorney for 42 years (as of 2012). For the first 13 years of his career, he was an Arapahoe Douglas County District Attorney Senior prosecutor. In 1999 he formed his own law firm for the defense of Colorado criminal cases.

In addition to handling tens of thousands of cases in the trial courts of Colorado, he has written hundreds of articles regarding the practice of Colorado criminal law and frequently provides legal analysis on radio and television, appearing on the Fox News Channel, CNN and Various National and Local Newspapers and Radio Stations. Please call him at your convenience at 720-220-2277

If you have questions about Why Or Even Whether You Should or Should Not Retain A Colorado Juvenile Criminal Lawyer in the Denver metropolitan area and throughout Colorado, attorney H. Michael Steinberg will be pleased to answer those questions and also to provide quality legal representation to those charged in Colorado adult and juvenile criminal matters.

In the Denver metropolitan area and throughout Colorado, attorney H. Michael Steinberg provides quality legal representation to those charged in Colorado adult and juvenile criminal matters…aand can help you devide Why Or Whether You Should I Retain A Colorado Juvenile Criminal Lawyer.