Juvenile Court Penalty for Petty Theft
My question involves juvenile law in the State of: California
I was arrested for petty theft when I was 17. A few weeks after my arrest, I turned 18, and I will go to court in another couple weeks.
I was wondering, what will most likely be my punishment?
This is my first time having been arrested, or going to court. The item I stole was under $50. The officer marked the charge as a misdemeanor instead of an infraction, on the citation paper.
Will this stay on my record? People say it goes away after I turn 18 (which I did) but the officers say that it will stay on my record.
What is court like? Do I have to dress a certain way?
Any help would be appreciated.
Re: Juvenile Court Penalty for Petty Theft
You should dress as if you're going to an important event or church. (This needs to be explained?)
I'm not going to promise you what will happen in court, given that I know nothing but what you've told me, but I expect from the information you've provided that you would be looking at a period of supervision, perhaps with a deferred disposition, fines, and possibly community service.
As is explained here,
Quote:
Quoting Juvenile Records
Your juvenile records
do appear on your criminal record. As of your 18th birthday, you are eligible to petition to have your juvenile records sealed. Once your records are sealed, no one can gain access to them and they will be completely destroyed 5 years from the date of sealing.
Juvenile records are
not automatically sealed upon your 18th birthday. You must petition the juvenile court to have them sealed. You can do this by filling out a form and filing it with the juvenile court
in the county where you were convicted. Contact the
juvenile court in the county where you were convicted and ask them to send you a copy of the form used in that county. Check to see if they have any special filing requirements, such as additional photocopies or the need to serve copies of the petition on any government agencies, and get the correct information for filing by mail. Usually, there is no fee.