Like adults, children can be accused of committing a crime in California and face punishment if the judge establishes that they committed it. When a child is suspected of committing a crime, the prosecution can file a petition against them, and they will be subject to punishment if the judge sustains that petition.

Consequently, if your child is arrested, you want to ensure it does not reach a stage in their juvenile court case where the prosecution files a petition against them. If that is impossible and the prosecution files the petition, you need to fight to ensure the judge does not sustain it, as that may subject the child to severe punishment based on their case facts.

One way of ensuring this is by hiring professional juvenile delinquency defense counsel. At California Criminal Lawyer Group, we understand what the juvenile court process entails and will advise you and your child on their legal options and what to expect. We are ready to fight for your child's best interests, ensuring we achieve the best possible result for their case so they receive the assistance they require and maintain a future of options and freedom. If your child is arrested in Bakersfield, please call our office for a free consultation and case review.

Sustained Petitions Overview

California has a juvenile justice system and a criminal justice system, which differ in various aspects. The juvenile justice system incorporates juvenile delinquency courts, while the criminal justice system incorporates adult criminal courts. These two types of courts even utilize a different legal language. ‘Sustained juvenile petitions’ are among the terms you will hear in juvenile justice courts but not adult criminal courts. In essence, a sustained juvenile petition is the equivalent of a guilty verdict in criminal adult courts.

When the authorities accuse a child of committing an offense, be it a misdemeanor or felony, the district attorney may file a petition against the child, equivalent to a complaint filed in criminal grownup court. Usually, no juries are involved in the juvenile court process. A juvenile delinquency court judge will hear the evidence submitted against the juvenile, and should they decide the district attorney has shown beyond doubt that the minor committed the crime in question, they will sustain the filed petition.

For example, let us say the police arrest a youth for violating VC 28001, evading a law enforcement officer. Should the district attorney present irrefutable evidence to warrant sustaining the charges of evading a law enforcement officer, the juvenile judge will rule the accusations to be factual and then sustain the filed petition. If the D.A. does not prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, the judge will have no choice but to dismiss it. Consequently, the youth will have no sustained petition resulting from the evading law enforcement officer case.

A Step-BY-Step Of What Happens Before A Petition Is Sustained

A minor undergoes several hearings before a judge sustains the petition against them, just like a grownup would be subject to various steps in adult court before they are found guilty. First, like adult cases, the juvenile justice court process starts with the minor's arrest. Once a minor is arrested, law enforcement officers have the following options:

  • If the matter is not serious, the police might give the child a stern warning and let them go
  • The officers may also give the youth a legal citation to appear in court at a later date but let them go in the meantime
  • If the matter is serious, the police may take the child to juvenile hall

Should the police take the child to juvenile hall (usually run by the probation department), a probation officer may opt to do one of the following after interviewing the child:

  • Send the youth home after giving them a legal citation to attend court later. The probation officer can then send the case to the D.A., who will decide whether or not to file a petition.
  • Send the minor home after issuing them a probationary program not requiring them to return to court unless they disobey
  • Keep the child in juvenile hall, wait for the judge to look at their matter, and then send the case to the D.A., who will decide whether to file a petition.

Petition Filing

Based on the case facts, the D.A., or probation department, can decide to bring a petition against the child offender. A petition requests that the juvenile court become involved in the case. It states what the government thinks the child did (it does not imply the minor is guilty), and it is up to the judge to decide whether or not the petition is factual. Usually, a petition must be filed 48 hours after the child's arrest, and the child and their parents or guardians are entitled to a copy.

There are two types of petitions the prosecutor or probation department can file against a child offender—602 and 601 petitions.

A prosecutor or probation department files a 601 petition for a status offense. Should the judge sustain this petition, the minor will become a ward of the court and be deemed a status offender. A status offense is a crime that only juveniles can commit, like truancy, skipping school, chronic disobedience of parents, or curfew violation. Put otherwise, a status offense is a wrongful act only prohibited to children; if an adult commits that act, it would not be illegal.

A prosecutor files a 602 petition for wrongful acts that would be deemed criminal even for adults, for example, trespassing, murder, rape, shoplifting, and vandalism. If the judge sustains the petition, the juvenile will be subject to wardship and be deemed delinquent.

Detention Hearing

Once a petition is filed, the child will be subject to a detention hearing on the next court day. The detention hearing is the very first court hearing for the child. It is equivalent to arraignment in criminal adult court.

During this hearing, the child will be appointed an attorney if they do not have one already. The presiding judge will then tell the child what they have been accused of and allow them to deny or admit the allegations. If the child is detained, the juvenile judge will determine whether they should be released to their parents or stay in custody. Unlike in criminal adult court, child offenders have no option for bail.

Transfer or Fitness Hearings

If the child is alleged to have committed a severe offense when they were at least sixteen, they may be subject to a transfer hearing, otherwise known as a fitness hearing. This is the hearing during which the judge determines whether the minor should be prosecuted as a grown-up in criminal adult court or remain under the juvenile justice system.

Motion or Pretrial Hearings

Before the adjudication hearing, there might be one or more pretrial proceedings. During these proceedings, the D.A. and the child's lawyer might exchange discovery and discuss potential dispositions. If they reach a disposition, the child may admit to perpetrating the offense they are alleged to have committed, and the judge would proceed per the disposition terms. The judge will also consider any pre-trial motions the D.A. or lawyer filed and issue legal rulings.

Jurisdiction or Adjudication Hearing

An adjudication hearing is like a trial in criminal adult court. Based on the location of the arrest, the child will have their adjudication proceeding at a juvenile hall like Kern County Juvenile Hall, Orange County Juvenile Hall, or Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall. Alternatively, rather than being subject to a jurisdiction hearing, the child may agree to have committed all or some of the allegations against them. If the child admits, the attorney will assist them in choosing their words carefully.

If a jurisdiction hearing is held, the judge will decide whether the minor committed the crime they are accused of. Jury trials do not exist in juvenile court. The prosecutor must demonstrate that the minor committed the crime they are accused of. The child’s lawyer will develop a defense strategy to help the child beat the case against them.

Should the presiding judge decide there is no adequate evidence to find that the juvenile did what they were alleged to do, they will dismiss the case, and the child will go home. If they decide the child committed the crime they are accused of, they will sustain the prosecutor’s petition against the child. This is the same as being found guilty of a violation in criminal adult court. However, since the focus of the juvenile justice system is different from that of the adult criminal system, the term is also different.

What Happens After the Sustaining of the Petition?

Should the judge sustain the D.A.’s petition, a disposition proceeding follows, during which the judge decides what will happen to the child. That is, the kind of punishment they should impose. The disposition hearing could be held on the same day as the jurisdiction hearing or on a different date. Again, it is worth repeating that the focus of the juvenile justice system is to provide the necessary treatment and care to bar the minor from being involved in further delinquent or criminal conduct.

When determining what disposition to impose, the judge considers several factors. These include the following:

  • The juvenile’s personal and criminal history
  • Statement of the victim
  • The victim's injury, if any
  • The child's best interests
  • The safety of the community

“Best interests” does not automatically mean the outcome will be positive. Instead, it has to do with dispositions that will assist in setting the minor on the correct path. The minor and their lawyer can present mitigating factors as to why the juvenile judge should be more lenient when deciding what disposition to impose.

Also, during the disposition proceeding, the juvenile judge will review a report from the child’s probation officer, recommending the appropriate disposition option. The report may include statements by the minor and their parents or guardians. If the child’s crime involved a victim, they can attend the hearing and be allowed to give their statement. The victim (plus their parents if the victim is a minor) will be issued a notice regarding the hearing.

Disposition Options for The Court

Based on the evidence submitted during the disposition proceedings, the judge might impose one or several types of sanctions against the minor. Potential disposition options in a juvenile delinquency case include the following:

  • Placing the child on informal probation—if the offense is minor and the child is a first-time offender, the judge may impose informal probation under WIC 725 or 654. Informal probation could last a maximum of six months.
  • Declaring the child a ward of the court—should this happen, the court will assume the charge of making decisions on the child's behalf. When a child is subject to wardship, the judge might:
  • Place them on formal probation, supervised at home by a probation officer. In this case, the minor must comply with specific court-ordered conditions.
  • Take the minor away from their home and have them stay in foster care or with a family member.
  • Send the child to a ranch or probation camp.
  • Place the minor in a juvenile detention center.
  • Send the minor to a DJJ (Division of Juvenile Justice) facility.

Review Hearings

Court hearings are sometimes held to determine how the child is progressing in their placement. Anyone who participated in the prior court proceedings has the legal right to attend a review hearing.

The potential outcomes of a child's case do not end with the juvenile judge imposing a certain disposition option. Other matters might arise after the resolution of the case. For example, the child and their lawyer can appeal the judge's decision if they believe legal mistakes led to the sustaining of the petition. Additionally, the child might request that their delinquency record be sealed if they satisfy particular conditions.

Appealing a Sustained Petition

Like grown-ups who face sentencing in adult criminal court, juvenile offenders have the legal right to contest the judge's decision to sustain the prosecution's petition by appealing. Also, like in criminal adult court, strict timelines govern the juvenile delinquency court's appeal process, and missing a deadline may lead to the child forfeiting their appeal rights.

A child offender can demand a rehearing of the case presided over by a referee or commissioner within ten days of the court clerk's sending a copy of the court's order and findings. The court must receive the request for a case rehearing within ten days from the clerk issuing a copy of the order and findings.

Once the child has requested a rehearing, the juvenile judge must review the court proceedings’ transcripts and provide a ruling within twenty days or forty-five days where there is a valid reason for delay. Should the judge fail to give a ruling by the end of this period, the child will automatically be granted a rehearing. A rehearing could be requested by letter to the juvenile court’s presiding judge or written motion and must have specific reasons explaining why the child should be granted a rehearing.

If the child's case was presided over by a judge, or should a judge deny a rehearing request, the child can file an appeal. The child must bring the notice of appeal within sixty days of issuing the final order or thirty days from the day the notice of denial of a re-hearing was sent, whichever is higher. The child should file the notice of appeal in juvenile delinquency court and not in appellate court. The notice should categorically state what the child is appealing, and the child or their attorney must sign it. Any cross-appeals must be brought sixty days from when the appeal was filed or twenty days from when the clerk mailed the notice of appeal.

After an appeal is filed, the appellate panel has ninety days to decide on the case. If the child is not content with the ruling, they can head to the California Supreme Court. Otherwise, the decision by the appellate panel becomes final after thirty days of the hearing. In other words, the child has thirty days to take their case to the Supreme Court if they are not content with the appeal's decision.

Sealing Juvenile Delinquency Records

Most people think that after a petition is sustained, a child's juvenile delinquency records will automatically be sealed when they turn eighteen. That is not true. Instead, the child must qualify to have their juvenile delinquency records sealed and must acquire a judicial order to seal and destroy juvenile records per WIC 781. An individual can have their juvenile delinquency records sealed if:

  • Five years have elapsed since the juvenile court jurisdiction ended, or they are 18 or older.
  • The individual is yet to be found criminally liable for a moral turpitude misdemeanor or felony crime, and
  • They were found guilty in juvenile delinquency court of particular serious crimes after they turned 14.
  • The judge finds the individual has been fully rehabilitated.
  • There is no pending civil case related to juvenile crime whose records need sealing.

Particular juvenile crimes do not qualify for record sealing. These include arson, murder, most sex crimes, robbery, and other violent offenses.

If a juvenile delinquency court agrees to the record-sealing petition, the person's file will be closed. That means that all the documents in it will not be deemed to exist anymore and will not be considered public records. This move is meant to safeguard grownups from prior crimes on their delinquency records and permits them to respond “no” if asked whether they have ever been arrested or have a sealed record. Sealed records include every section of the delinquency court file, like judicial findings, arrest reports, probation reports, and exhibits.

California juvenile delinquency court proceedings are not deemed criminal. Additionally, a juvenile offender is not convicted. Instead, they are declared a ward of the court. That means those whose records are not sealed can still lawfully state they are yet to be found guilty of an offense. However, professional licensing agencies or prospective employers can still refer to the criminal record, which is why most people with juvenile delinquency records choose to petition the court to seal their records per WIC 781.

After a juvenile delinquency record is sealed, it cannot be opened except in two limited situations, which are:

  • If the individual whose record is sealed is involved in a defamation suit—in that case, the record may be reopened in the civil hearings and then resealed once the case ends
  • The DMV may permit insurance providers to access an individual's driving record when establishing insurance risk factors and eligibility, including facts regarding their sealed juvenile delinquency records.

The court only retains sealed juvenile delinquency records in extraordinary circumstances. Otherwise, it will direct that the records be destroyed as follows:

  • Five years if the child was subject to wardship for being involved in truancy or being habitually disobedient, or
  • Once the individual turned thirty-eight, they were subject to wardship for criminal conduct.

There are several reasons why a person might want to seal their juvenile delinquency records. After a record is sealed, a person can truthfully say they do not have a criminal history. This can positively affect employment, professional licensing, and student loans. Employers would be incapable of discriminating against someone whose record is sealed. Additionally, a person mandated to comply with the sex offender registration requirement for a juvenile sexual offense per PC 290 will no longer have to register.

Find an Experienced Juvenile Delinquency Lawyer Near Me

The juvenile justice system is complex, and the abovementioned disposition options are only a short overview of what may happen should the judge sustain the prosecution’s petition against your child. At California Criminal Lawyer Group, our lawyers can discuss the potential outcomes in detail and assist you in understanding your child’s legal options. Plus, they will defend the child to ensure they obtain the best possible outcome. Call us at 661-750-8230 for a free consultation if your child is facing charges in Bakersfield, CA.