Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Re: Home Youthful Training Act

You are referring to the "Holmes Youthful Trainee Act" (HYTA). Some of us ignore the "Holmes" and just refer to this as "YTA".

The law is found at MCL 762.11 through .14. Also see http://www.eatoncounty.org/prosecutor/define.htm#H for a summary of this Act.

Essentially, it is a process that lets the court (in their discretion) put adult offenders who were 17-20 yrs old when they committed an offense to be put on a probation term where the court has the authority to dismiss the case at the end of the probation (presumably when the youth SUCCESSFULLY completed the probation). You cnanot use it for capital cases ('life' felonies), major drug crimes, or traffic code violations (OWI, reckless driving, DWLS, etc.).

The rationale is to let young adults keep otherwise-clean records clean.

I recommend that you consult an attorney who handles criminal cases to review whether YTA might be available for the facts of your case, your background, and in light of the judge who has the case. (YTA depends on the particular judge agreeing to use this tool ... and some judges use it a lot, while some may not use it at all).