The juvenile system in California may be very confusing for you. Children may in fact be charged with delinquency and may often become entangled in the legal system and you may not know where to turn. Rizio & Nelson understand the unique juvenile legal system in California and we can help.

Juvenile Crimes:

As with adult crimes, juvenile crimes are clearly defined as any action on the minors part that violates any law in the state of California or an act where a juvenile failed to act as required by a law in the state of California.

As with adult offenders, juveniles may be charged with infractions (generally punishable by a fine only), a misdemeanor (which can result in probation, detention or a fine or any combination thereof) or in the most serious of cases, a felony which could ultimately result in the juvenile being sentenced to either a Youth Authority facility or in the worst case scenario, an adult prison.

Juvenile offenders fall into a number of different categories under California laws. They are:

654’s – Informal Probationers - this category is generally reserved for a juvenile who has committed a very minor offence and the probation officer involved in the case decides that the minor is under the jurisdiction of the court. Often these youthful offenders may be referred for (a) substance abuse treatment, (b) mental health treatment, (c) sent to a crisis shelter or (d) offered additional services to assist in rehabilitation.

601’s – Status Offenders - this level of offense is generally under the delinquency stage and may involve such offenses as curfew violations, truancy and incorrigible behavior. These youthful offenders are not detained or incarcerated by instead placed on formal probation.

602’s – Criminal Offenders - any offender under the age of eighteen that is subjected to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court system for commission of a misdemeanor or a felony is subject to not only formal probation, but may also be detained in a juvenile hall or incarcerated by the Youth Authority in an appropriate program.

707b’s - a juvenile who is charged under the 707B statues were passed as part of Proposition 21 in 2000. This Penal code states:

Penal Code Section 707(b) after passage of Proposition 21 on March 7, 2000.
(b) Subdivision (c) shall be applicable in any case in which a minor is alleged to be a person described in Section 602 by reason of the violation, when he or she was 16 years of age or older, of one of the following offenses:

(1) Murder; (2) Arson, as provided in subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 451 of the Penal Code; (3) Robbery; (4) Rape with force or violence or threat of great bodily harm; (5) Sodomy by force, violence, duress, menace, or threat of great bodily harm; (6) Lewd or lascivious act as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 288 of the Penal Code; (7) Oral copulation by force, violence, duress, menace, or threat of great bodily harm; (8) Any offense specified in subdivision (a) of Section 289 of the Penal Code; (9) Kidnapping for ransom; (10) Kidnapping for purpose of robbery; (11) Kidnapping with bodily harm; (12) Attempted murder; (13) Assault with a firearm or destructive device; (14) Assault by any means of force likely to produce great bodily injury; (15) Discharge of a firearm into an inhabited or occupied building; (16) Any offense described in Section 1203.09 of the Penal Code; (17) Any offense described in Section 12022.5 or 12022.53 of the Penal Code; (18) Any felony offense in which the minor personally used a weapon listed in subdivision (a) of Section 12020 of the Penal Code; (19) Any felony offense described in Section 136.1 or 137 of the Penal Code; (20) Manufacturing, compounding, or selling one-half ounce or more of any salt or solution of a controlled substance specified in subdivision (e) of Section 11055 of the Health and Safety Code; (21) Any violent felony, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 667.5 of the Penal Code, which would also constitute a felony violation of subdivision (b) of Section 186.22 of the Penal Code; (22) Escape, by the use of force or violence, from any county juvenile hall, home, ranch, camp, or forestry camp in violation of subdivision (b) of Section 871 where great bodily injury is intentionally inflicted upon an employee of the juvenile facility during the commission of the escape; (23) Torture as described in Sections 206 and 206.1 of the Penal Code; (24) Aggravated mayhem, as described in Section 205 of the Penal Code; (25) Carjacking, as described in Section 215 of the Penal Code, while armed with a dangerous or deadly weapon; (26) Kidnapping, as punishable in subdivision (d) of Section 208 of the Penal Code; (27) Kidnapping, as punishable in Section 209.5 of the Penal Code; (28) The offense described in subdivision (c) of Section 12034 of the Penal Code; (29) The offense described in Section 12308 of the Penal Code; or (30) Voluntary manslaughter, as described in subdivision (a) of Section 192 of the Penal Code.

Clearly, juvenile crime is very confusing and if you have been notified that your child may be tried under any of these statutes you are going to need competent legal assistance. At Rizio & Nelson we pride ourselves in fully understanding the juvenile penal code and we will provide you with fully competent assistance in all matters relating to juvenile delinquency. Call us twenty four hours a day, seven day a week and let us assist you with your juvenile law needs.

We thank you for visiting the website of California Juvenile Defense Attorney-Lawyer.

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