Legal Question in Criminal Law in Arkansas

Re: Juvenile felony assault

You have asked a very good question. You did not say how old the kids are. As a juvenile, she can come under three different categories. 1) juvenile jurisdiction. Here she could be incarcerated untill she is 18. 2) extended juvenile jurisdiction. Here she can be incarcerated till she is 18. At that time, there will be a hearing to determine if she should be kept till she is 21, or if she should be kept as an adult. 2) Adult jurisdiction. Here she could get the book thrown at her. A class B felony as an adult can get her 5-20 years and a $15,000 fine.

Can they file charges? Yup, sure can. The charging process is completely up to the prosecutor. The boy is not the one bringing the charges, he is just a witness. The people of Arkansas are the ones bringing the charges.

Does she have a defense? Sounds like it.

The best advice I can give you is to hire a good CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY THAT PRACTICES IN JUVENILE COURT REGULARLY. If you look in the yellow pages, it will appear that everyone does, but the reality is that there are very few of us who actually do such regularly. I do not suggest going it alone. She can use a public defender. Some of them are among the finest Attorneys out there. Unfortunately, it is the luck of the draw though.