“Your rights matter.”
That simple assertion borrowed from an informed legal source addressing criminal allegations and defense might reasonably strike most Georgia readers of this blog post as being an elementary point. Still, it is a statement worth emphasizing in any criminal law matter.
And it applies in uppercase if you’re a Georgia parent who has just received a phone call from a son or daughter who is being detained by law enforcers for alleged criminal wrongdoing.
Of course, it is your child’s rights and not yours that are at center stage in such a matter, but it might well fall on you as a loving parent to take meaningful steps that fully assert and protect those rights.
Candidly, parents in the Augusta metro area and across Georgia frequently do so. Detainment by police officials in any matter focused on criminal activity and potentially linked downsides is a flatly serious matter for any alleged offender.
Especially juveniles. From virtually any perspective, young people – even those who might be college-aged students legally deemed to be adults – are not fully mature individuals.
Parents know that. They revel in their children’s growth and attainments, but they also know that offspring in their teen years and even early 20s are works in progress and still evolving.
As well as impressionable, susceptible to peer pressure and sometimes inclined to make rash decisions leading to dire consequences.
Common criminal charges targeting youthful offenders
Here is a preliminary point worth noting in many criminal law cases involving young offenders: Those individuals often break laws absent any willful or premeditated intent to do so or are even unaware that their behavior was unlawful. Legions of young people also view select conduct as unharmful and underestimate its legal consequences.
Notwithstanding those truths, college students and other individuals within the “youth” demographic frequently face criminal charges such as the following:
- Drug offenses (ranging widely from possession and possession to distribute to prescription drug offenses and unlawful drug cultivation)
- Sex crimes, often involving issues re consent, intoxication and additional matters
- Assault and disorderly conduct (e.g., bar rights and public intoxication)
- Theft offenses
- Traffic violations (drunk/drugged driving, speeding and more)
The outcomes concerning those varied offenses can range broadly.
That variance often owes to whether a charge is responded to passively and in a fatalistic way or via a timely, proactive and informed approach.
Early and aggressive involvement from a seasoned defense team will ensure that the latter strategy is pursued. Proven defense attorneys will diligently safeguard a client’s rights. Moreover, they will demand that key allegations be proved beyond a reasonable doubt and push for a result that maximally mitigates the downsides of a criminal charge.