Juvenile Delinquency Defense in the San Francisco Bay Area

How juvenile court differs from adult court

The words are different. The charging document is a petition under WIC 602, not a complaint. The trial is a jurisdictional hearing. A petition is sustained rather than proved to a conviction. Sentencing is a disposition. A minor whose petition is sustained becomes a ward of the court.

There is no jury. A judge hears the evidence and decides. The standard of proof at the jurisdictional hearing is still proof beyond a reasonable doubt under WIC 701, and the rules of evidence apply.

The stated purpose is different. WIC 202 directs the juvenile court toward care, treatment and guidance that holds the minor accountable and serves the minor's interest, rather than punishment alone. That purpose shapes what a judge can order at disposition.

Disposition options run from informal supervision without a sustained petition, through probation at home with conditions, to out-of-home placement and, for the most serious offenses, commitment to a county secure youth treatment facility. Which options are open depends on the offense, the minor's history and the probation report.

The timelines are shorter. For a detained minor the jurisdictional hearing is set within 15 judicial days of the detention order under WIC 657, unless the court grants a continuance for good cause under WIC 682. For a minor who is not detained it is set within 30 days of the first appearance on the petition.

Questioning is handled differently. Under WIC 625.6, a minor who is 17 or younger must consult with a lawyer before a custodial interrogation and before any waiver of Miranda rights, except where an officer reasonably believes questions are needed to meet an imminent threat to life or property. A parent cannot substitute for that consultation, and the minor cannot waive it.

Detention hearings

When a minor is taken into custody and not released to a parent, the probation department decides whether to hold the minor in juvenile hall.

If the minor is held, a petition must be filed within 48 hours of custody, not counting weekends and court holidays, or the minor is released under WIC 631. Once the petition is filed, WIC 632 generally requires a detention hearing before the end of the next court day. A different 48 hour rule applies to some minors arrested without a warrant on a misdemeanor not involving violence or a weapon.

At the detention hearing the judge informs the minor and the parent of the reasons the minor is in custody, the nature of the proceedings and the right to counsel, and decides whether the minor goes home while the case proceeds.

Under WIC 635 and 636 the court must release the minor unless there is a prima facie showing that the minor comes within section 601 or 602, that staying at home is contrary to the minor's welfare, and that one further ground is shown.

Those grounds are that the minor violated a prior court order, escaped from a juvenile court commitment, is likely to flee, or needs to be held for the minor's own protection or the protection of another person or property.

Release is not all or nothing. The court must consider home supervision, with or without electronic monitoring, and can send a minor home on conditions or keep the minor in juvenile hall.

Counsel can present the home situation, school enrollment and adult supervision the court weighs when it decides whether to release a minor.

A parent's presence at the detention hearing matters. The court weighs whether an adult can supervise the minor at home, and a parent in the courtroom lets counsel present that plan at the first hearing rather than the second.

Transfer to adult court under WIC 707

This section is general information about California law, not advice about any case.

A minor is prosecuted in juvenile court unless the district attorney files a motion to transfer the case to adult criminal court and a juvenile court judge grants it. Since Proposition 57 in 2016, a prosecutor cannot file a minor's case directly in adult court.

Under WIC 707(a), the prosecutor may move to transfer only when the minor was 16 or 17 at the time of the alleged felony.

A minor who was 14 or 15 cannot be transferred, with one exception: a person alleged to have committed an offense listed in WIC 707(b) at 14 or 15 who was not apprehended before juvenile jurisdiction would have ended.

The judge weighs five criteria set out in WIC 707(a)(3): the degree of criminal sophistication shown, whether the minor can be rehabilitated before juvenile jurisdiction expires, the minor's prior delinquent history, the success of earlier rehabilitation attempts, and the circumstances and gravity of the alleged offense.

Since January 1, 2023, a judge may order transfer only on a finding by clear and convincing evidence that the minor is not amenable to rehabilitation while under juvenile court jurisdiction, and the judge must state the reasons for that finding in a written order entered on the minutes.

The probation department prepares a report for the transfer hearing. The minor may present school records, treatment history and psychological evaluations, and may call witnesses.

The stakes are the sentencing scheme. If transfer is granted the case moves to the adult criminal court, where adult penalties including state prison apply. In San Francisco that court sits at the Hall of Justice, 850 Bryant Street.

What parents should know first

This section is general information, not advice about any case.

Where the child is comes first. The arresting agency can say whether the child has been released to a parent or is held at juvenile hall, and whether a petition has been filed. A note of the agency, officer and time of the call helps later.

A minor has the right to remain silent and to counsel. Statements to police, probation staff, school staff, friends, other minors and family members can be used in the case. A parent's conversation with a child is not privileged, and calls from juvenile hall can be recorded.

Messages a parent sends the child by text, email or social media, contact with other people involved, and posts about the case can become evidence. A search of a child's phone or room can be consented to by a parent; families usually raise that question with counsel first.

Records a judge considers at the detention hearing and again at disposition include school enrollment and attendance, any individualized education program, medical and mental health history, and the names of the adults who supervise the child.

Counsel retained before the detention hearing can appear at it. Pelta Law can be reached at 415-963-1152 or marc@peltalaw.com with the child's name, the county, the custody status and the next court date. Do not include facts of the case in an email or text.

How Pelta Law handles a juvenile matter

Pelta Law is a solo practice. Marc Pelta is the attorney on every matter the firm accepts. The first conversation is a conflict check and a short account of where the case stands; facts of the case come after representation is confirmed.

Attorneys referring a juvenile matter, or seeking a second opinion on a pending transfer motion, can use the process described on the For Attorneys page.

Office: 1390 Market Street, Suite 200, San Francisco. Appointments by arrangement.

This website is an advertisement for legal services. Marc Pelta, Pelta Law, San Francisco.