Advice from a Criminal Defense Lawyer Attorney in Royal Oak, Michigan
What advice do you give to juveniles who’ve been charged with a crime?
What advice do you give to juveniles who’ve been charged with a crime?
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when it comes to juvenile cases the
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the most difficult part the most
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challenging part is that my client might
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be 12 years old
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14 years old even 16 years old so is
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under
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the guidance and control really of their
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parents
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so when it comes to meeting with a
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client an adult client i meet with that
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client one on one
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there’s no extra voices in the room and
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there’s no interference
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but when it comes to parents being
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involved in their kids cases when their
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kids are underage and charged as a
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juvenile i have to then explain
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everything to the parent
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as to how the case goes and then hope
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the child understands through that
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discussion
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and also make sure that the parent is
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involved
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parent is getting counseling for the
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child is making sure they’re there not
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leaving their their child alone
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if there’s any issue of mental health
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disturbances where they could hurt
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themselves
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that’s been been the case several times
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with my juvenile cases
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and i think the biggest way the way that
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i handle these sort of cases to overcome
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that challenge
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is to politely tell a parent on the
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phone during our first consultation that
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at some point during this i’m going to
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want to speak with your son or daughter
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one on one no parent in the room no one
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else in the room and as long as i have
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permission to do that
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i’ve been successful in getting some
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information from a young child that
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mom and dad don’t need to know but i
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need to know and that helps me
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mitigate their case helps me understand
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how to attack their case
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and make sure that they get the right
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representation because a lot of parents
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we were all children at one point
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we never want to tell our parents
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everything so when it comes to cases
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like sex crimes or drugs or
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alcohol not a lot of kids want to be
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fully honest with their mom and dad
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as to how much how many different types
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of drugs they’ve tried or what they’ve
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done
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when it comes to a sexual encounter so
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it’s very good to have that
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that calming demeanor to make sure that
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children understand
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that hey i’m here you can treat me like
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a big brother if you want you can treat
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me like your uncle if you want whatever
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you want to do
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but just be honest with me and then i
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will in turn show you how honest i am by
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not just responding to your mom and dad
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everything you just told me
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Royal Oak, MI criminal defense lawyer Samuel J. Bennett talks shares the most important advice that he gives to juvenile defendants.
