Juvenile Possession of Marijuana in Orange County, California
California, Orange County
I am age 17. Received a citation for possession of marijuana less than ounce. Misdermeanor.
My court date is in a week and I have not received anything in the mail. Many friends have said they received 'informal diversion' juvenile probabtion notice in the mail before court. No one I have spoken to has actually had to go to court or officially charged. They all went to the probabtion center and did diversion before court. But I have not received anything.
Guess Im going to court.
My questions:
If anyone knows OC Juvenile Court. What happens at Juvenile court? Do I need an attorney? (parents cannot afford one) Is my chance to get diversion gone since no mail notice? Will I be offered a public defender before I have to plead guilty or not guilty? What are my chances if I just walk in and plead guilty, or not guilty, and take my chances?
Re: Juvenile Possession of Marijuana in Orange County, California
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Is my chance to get diversion gone since no mail notice?
No.
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Will I be offered a public defender before I have to plead guilty or not guilty?
Plead Not Guilty at your arraignment and ask for one.
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What are my chances if I just walk in and plead guilty, or not guilty, and take my chances?
The courts don't operate on "chances", they operate on facts. If you plead Guilty, you force diversion as an option right off the table, and force the court to impose penalty.
Plead Not Guilty. Ask for a PD. Then do what s/he tells you to do.
Re: Juvenile Possession of Marijuana in Orange County, California
Ok cool. Thank you for that info!
Re: Juvenile Possession of Marijuana in Orange County, California
I wanted to update now that I have gone to court.
When you get a possession of marijuana in Orange County and you go to court you are asked if you would like to ''waive your rights'' and speak with the judge regarding the circumstances. After you waive your rights, your parent stands up with you in front of the judge and the judge asks you several questions about what happened when you were caught, gives you a pretty hard time. After you answer all the questions the judge can decide to give you 8 hours of drug classes at $50.00 on Saturday. After your classes are complete the charges are dropped.