What Happens At A Juvenile Court Trial

http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11068

That is what my trial is about. According to my mom, there would have been no trial except that 1 out of the 3 that got burnt are complaining. So is it me against the state or me against the complainer (as in does the "system" ever pursue petty arsonists themselves).

And yeah, can someone give me a brief synopsis of how things are going to go down? Like judge asks questions, then sides grill each other or whatever then I make some statements.

There's an outline of Georgia juvenile court procedure for delinquency matters here.

Thanks for replying. Anyone else feel free to chip in :)

Aaron, do you know where punishment for juvenile arson 3rd degree georgia is? I see adult law I think for 1-5 years if convicted:confused: Which is strange to me since I wouldn't have even gotten jail time had I plead guilty. I was 16 when this happened.

Juvenile courts typically have considerable flexibility in sentencing, to tailor the penalty to the offender. They typically are not bound by either minimum or maximum penalties associated with an offense in adult court, although there are age limits on their jurisdiction which can form an effective maximum penalty. If you are going to trial you should have a lawyer, and you should discuss probable outcome with your lawyer.

KK, 1 more question. I think I have a solid case, no witnesses, negligible damage, a freaking chopstick?!? (proving intent), no lighter fluid.

Except one hole in my case. The police interviewed me days later, asked why I didn't extinguish the flaming chopstick in sink. I said because I thought it'd explode. Then minutes later I said I stuck in the toilet. :confused: They seemed to write down everything else, then I noticed they didn't write that down, either they said "yes, this kid's going down", or they were just getting weary.

So yeah, should I announce to the judge immediately "dear judge, I was nervous, cracked, lied (nicer twist of words I'll or someone can think up), but besides that, everything else is true, and I hope that this slip doesn't overrule the fact that other things point to me being innocent (did not decide to wake up and intentionally start a fire with a chopstick).

Or should I wait until she brings it up..

Yes I realize I have a lawyer, just want a different perspective.

I talked to someone, kind of a dopey druggie, not sure how reliable he is, but he says first lawyer speaks for me, judge grills me, then I speak. That is what I mean by the topic at hand, if anyone can elaborate further:)

Any idea on how much more severe the punishment for losing 3rd degree arson pleading not guilty than what I would've got had I plead guilty (petty $25~ fine, probation, apology)

And about my flip flop. I just realized.. I flip flopped in the polices prescence, they wrote (or should've) that down in Feb06, I got to court Jun06ish, the "dude" told me about my guilty "deal", and I assume they already went over the flipflop, so maybe it's not that bad? But it's a good idea to disclose it upfront I think?

And what if no one noticed the flipflop that they shoudlve noticed yet I disclose, and the judge before was thinking nice, then says, ack, liar!
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*Juvenile trial process?
*aaron has noted that punishment for juvenile is more flexible, so schwoo, no 1 year prison, however, I'm wondering how far it can go away from my original "deal"
*..and whether my flipflop, if not factored into the "deal", if I disclose it but it wasn't on the record/reviewed by the judge/police, how's that going to affect everything?

July 11th is coming!

Quote:

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Quoting pugfug90

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...

Except one hole in my case. The police interviewed me days later, asked why I didn't extinguish the flaming chopstick in sink. I said because I thought it'd explode. Then minutes later I said I stuck in the toilet.

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Are you familiar with the phrase, "You have cooked your own goose"?

No but it sounds tasty :) I reckon you reckon I'm a goner. Ermmm I'll tell you guys how everything went down so you can recall this anecdote for similar situations.

Anyway, as my subsequent posts have noted, I contradicted myself days after the fire. The police changed the charges from 1st deg arson to 3rd deg arson even after a couple funny things I've said. And my plead guilty deal that was packaged months later was gracious and I'm sure went over my contradictions but didn't see how any of that proved i=arsonist.