Legal Question in Criminal Law in Indiana

First, does my lawyer have the right to request or demand he be able to question my 15 yo son without me being present? I'm getting conflicting responses. Because he is a minor, I'm being told I have the right to be in the room with my son. I want to know my son's rights as well as our parental rights.

We had a probation hearing. The probation officer said we would not discuss any of the charges at this time. That would be up to the prosecutor and his office to look at. We went through our interview process. The lawyer had my son right up a statement of the night in question. The probation officer never requested any kind of statement, but my lawyer produced the letter. It had incriminating evidence that was not in the police report. I thought you weren't supposed to offer information unless it was requested. After the meeting, the lawyer said he was glad the probation officer was "aggressive" in her interviewing. My husband and I thought that was an odd statement. He keeps acting like he wants my son to get in trouble to learn a lesson. He is not acting like he's working in the best interest of my son especially with the statement he produced from my son. Is this unethical behavior? What should we do?

I know this is considered a civil case because he's a juvenile, but I wasn't sure where to ask this questions with the choices I had. I put it under criminal law even though I know it's civil.


Asked on 1/23/10, 8:55 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jay Rigdon Rockhill Pinnick LLP

It sounds like he is your son's lawyer, not your lawyer, right? He does have the right and obligation to talk to his client alone.

If you think your son's lawyer is not doing a good job, you should hire another lawyer to replace him. It is impossible to review or second guess another attorney's strategy in this forum.

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Answered on 1/29/10, 7:37 am


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