As a parent, few things are more upsetting than having your child arrested. Fortunately, our defense attorneys will fight aggressively for your child’s rights so he or she can receive a fair trial. 

Depending on the severity of the charge, your child may be tried as a juvenile or adult. Either way, you’ll need a juvenile justice attorney to help you secure the best outcome for your child. Continue reading to learn what you should do if your teenager is arrested.

Remain Calm

We understand that you may be angry or upset that your child has been arrested. However, staying calm is the best way to think clearly. One of your first calls should be to set up a consultation with one of our criminal defense attorneys. 

Hire a Criminal Defense Attorney

A criminal defense lawyer can help you understand the legal consequences attached to your child’s charge. For example, a teenage drug conviction will affect your child’s future eligibility for federal student aid, jobs, and housing. In other words, juvenile crime will affect your child’s life long past high school.

Being sad or angry at your child won’t help their circumstances as much as picking up the phone to call one of our juvenile justice attorneys. No matter what your child has been arrested for, remain calm and call one of our defense lawyers. You can count on our legal expertise to help get your child out of trouble or at least minimize consequences.

No juvenile crime is too small for our criminal defense attorneys. Underestimating your child’s charges can mean the difference between your child being able to come home and spending more time behind bars. Our attorneys are familiar with the attitudes and legal strategies of local judges and prosecutors, which is to your child’s advantage.

We represent minors for the following types of juvenile crime:

Understand Your Child’s Rights

Under the eyes of the law, a juvenile is someone under the age of 17. However, the court is more likely to try your child as an adult if they’re suspected of committing a serious crime like murder or sexual assault. Under Michigan’s Juvenile Waiver Law of 1997, children as young as 11 years old have been tried as adults. 

Police don’t need to contact you or get your permission to question your child. However, they are required to stop questioning if your child requests a parent or lawyer. Similar to when adults are interrogated, your child also has the right to remain silent. A parent or lawyer can instruct their child to remain silent if they feel it would be in their best interest.

Prepare for the Arraignment

You’ll most likely get a letter in the mail that’ll tell you when you and your child must appear in family court for the initial hearing. If you haven’t hired an attorney by this point, we strongly recommend you do so. 

A defense lawyer will be able to help your child understand the charges against them, their rights, and what plea to enter. An attorney will also help you as the parent understand the next steps.

Need an Attorney?

Our criminal defense attorneys fight aggressively for your child’s rights so they can achieve the best outcome. To schedule your appointment with our Grand Rapids defense attorneys, call Beurkens Law at (616) 459-5344.

This blog post has been updated.