School Yard Supervisor Charged With Battery of a Student

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Ca

I was a yard duty at a local middle school. One day I observed a boy knock a ball out of a girls hand. I went to the boy and talk him to knock it off and give back the ball. At which time he threw it aggressively at the girl. I told him do it again and he will be asked to leave. The second time he did it I went to remove him and take him to the office. At which point the student said I pushed him, he and another student began swearing at me and and telling me I couldn't touch them. All the while calling me every name in the book. I now have 3 years informal probation 100 hrs of community service and have to do an anger management class all due to the fact that my private lawyer was stone walled by the school districts ass super intended. My lawyer was never able to question anyone involved or any witnesses to the event that took place. The DA gave the deal above at which point I wanted to go to trial. My lawyer said she wasn't retained for trial and passed me to the public defenders office. I had two weeks to meet with my public defender. I called for two weeks strait until finally on the Friday before court on Monday (my first time meeting him), I got a call and he said that he would be out of town that coming Monday and his associate would ask for a countenance in my case.

Monday came and he was there. He took no time to read over my case and told me the DA is pushing this deal and he basically told me to take it and leave. I only got to talk to him for 5 min that day before court. He then walked away to go talk to someone else that he told basically the same thing to. He them came back to me said "OK whats the deal?". I then felt as though he was not willing the represent me in any type and felt as though I had to take the deal.

My question is? Is this OK? I feel I'm being railroaded by the DA and not given any kind of representation my my defense. I have never been in trouble before and have no idea how any of this works. All I know is this doesn't seem like due process or justice. Oh yea and it took the DA 11 months pretty much to the day to bring me to court. I now have court in the AM and I can't sleep all this BS running around in my head. The DA now has made me wait another two weeks while they "made sure the deal" (that they made) is ok with the "victims". Should've that been done already before the deal was offered?

I was also never read my rights by the officer that called me and MADE me pull over while driving my family in the car (he was made aware they were in the car). He treated me like I was guilty from the start.

Do I have any recourse here?

Despite what you learned of the law from watching TV, it's not required they read you your rights on arrest. It's only necessary if they intend to question you after your arrest. If there's a warrant for your arrest based on probable cause, you can be apprehended anywhere. It's not a function of guilt.

Understand that other than in very, very, limited cases (such as the necessity to stop one kid from causing harm to another) you may not apply force to a child. You do seem to have been under represented by your attorney, but if you've gone to court and agreed to the plea bargain, chances are it's too late. If you've not yet gone to court on the plea, you're free to refuse and have your attorney (yes, even a PD) defend you in court.

And yes, it can take a long time for things to make their way through the justice system. They have a year typically to commence prosecution, and only then does a further clock start to run on getting you to court.

Sadly, even if one kid is thumping another, laying hands on a student can still get a school employee in CA fired, even if not prosecuted.

I'm really surprised that any DA is going to bat with this rather than leaving it as a school personnel issue. Either there is more to the manner in which you tried to get the student(s) to the office, or these kids and the other witnesses spun a heck of a tall tale to get you into this predicament.

Understand that your attorney doesn't have a right to speak to all the witnesses. They don't HAVE to speak with him. He DOES have the right to examine them at trial, should it get to that point.

Your recourse at this point is to either accept the plea deal and move on (and maybe get the record expunged down the road), or, go to trial and fight the allegations. Understand that if you go to trial, you may serve some jail time. You may want to carefully evaluate what you did and ask yourself if you think you can overcome the state's case. If they have witnesses that will say you grabbed, pushed, shoved, or otherwise battered one or more kids, you'll likely lose unless your attorney can get them to admit to lying on the stand. Though, if you DID push, shove or hit one of the kids, then it wouldn't be a lie.

Work with your attorney.

Teachers not having authority is one of the things that has caused many of the problems we have now. I think teachers should be given combat medals.

This person is not a teacher. A teacher likely would have known the legal limits.

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Quoting Mercy&Grace

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Teachers not having authority is one of the things that has caused many of the problems we have now. I think teachers should be given combat medals.

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I heartily agree!

My pet peeve are IEPs that excuse poor behavior (even assaultive behavior) and can even prevent a school from disciplining a child who acts out, disrupting classrooms or attacking fellow students. That's why I have often advocated to parents that they call the police when they have a child assaulted - even consider a TRO. The school may not be able to act, but the justice system might be able to (depending on the age and actions of the child).

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Quoting flyingron

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This person is not a teacher. A teacher likely would have known the legal limits.

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Probably. But, I have known teachers to get jammed up when they acted impulsively to break up a fight. Sometimes our protective instincts overwhelm the rules. That's why I was glad I was both a cop AND a teacher, because I was able to act on the cop side of the equation for much of my career and go hands-on when school staff might not have been permitted to do so.

I know that in the school districts where I have worked, non-teacher yard duties have been provided with the expectations and rules of conduct ... but, I am certain that varies by district and school, and whether a part time yard duty would recall that training and allow it to act in place of their impulses is another story.

Parents have to be parents. Children that know their parents will not tolerate them breaking rules and/or laws. Or not doing the things they know to do fear more from their parents than school or law enforcement. Unfortunately, there are not enough parents like this now days

This was my third day and I had no trailing by the school. What I did was as I had seen others do when attempting to take a kid out of the area.

This is what I found of the matter and gave to my PD.

44807. Every teacher in the public schools shall hold pupils to a strict account for their conduct on the way to and from school, on the playgrounds, or during recess. A teacher, vice principal, principal, or any other certificated employee of a school district, shall not be subject to criminal prosecution or criminal penalties for the exercise, during the performance of his duties, of the same degree of physical control over a pupil that a parent would be legally privileged to exercise but which in no event shall exceed the amount of physical control reasonably necessary to maintain order, protect property, or protect the health and safety of pupils, or to maintain proper and appropriate conditions conducive to learning. The provisions of this section are in addition to and do not supersede the provisions of 49000.

Cited from the California Education Code 44807, 49000 and 49001

You are not a "certificated employee". you are a "classified" employee. Not to mention that holding students to "strict account" is not a green light to lay hands on them. Even if the criminal justice system might choose not to prosecute in instances of a teacher or other staff member physically separating children (as would often be reasonable - and such prosecution is very rare in my experience), that does not prevent a school district from disciplining or terminating a staffer that does so. What the LAW might say, and what district policy might say are different things entirely.

I have no caring about the job I'm only out to clear my name to the BS that these delinquents have said. The two statements give by each kid (their own statement A doesn't match statement B). These kids both have HUGE discipline records and I personally have not a single thing on my criminal record. One kid is one page front and back and the other three pages front and back. These aren't honor roll student here, even the VP of the school says this altercation in his opinion would have been started by these two. One of the students it was his first day back from a three day suspension. The VP also stated that neither of them had a any injury or marks on them.

People need to understand the president that is being set here. Kids can do what they want talk to staff how, swing at staff all they want and not get into trouble because all they have to do is make up some BS story and they are out of hot water. My so n who is Autistic has to write sorry notes to his teachers if his mother and I hear he has even raised his voice to his teacher.