Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Re: minor charged as adult

Your question is too vague to answer because you don't even tell us what the minor is charged with, or how old the minor is!

How and why the minor was charged as an adult, and what the minor is charged with will affect whether there is a remedy.

First, the minor has to be 14-16 years old. If the minor is 13 or under, he/she cannot be treated as an adult.

Second, there are several ways a prosecutor can charge a minor as an adult ... and part of the issue depends on whether the charge is a "specified juvenile violation" (murder; serious assaults like assault w/ intent to rob or murder; CSC 1st; armed robbery; home invasion 1st, bank/safe robbery; manufacture or sale or delivery of 650 grams of Schedule 1 or 2 drugs ... or attempts, conspiracies or solicitations to commit theme). If the charge is one of those, then the prosecutor can "automatically waive" the minor to adult court by filing a complaint in district court (like an adult case). All of the adult procedures are used, and would result in an "adult" sentence (altho judges CAN give a juvenile probation sentence for some of them, like home invasion, assaut w/ intent to rob while armed, or the drug crimes). You would probably NOT be able to "turn this back" unless the crime charged by the prosecutor does not survive the district court preliminary examination (probable cause hearing).

For all other felonies, the prosecutor has to have a judge's permission to prosecute the child as an adult ("traditional waiver" or "designated case"). If either of those options are used, evidence and argument presented to the court might result in a juvenile court sentence being imposed ... altho the conviction would still stay on the kid's record as an adult court felony. Important factors for the judge include the kid's prior delinquency record, and the likelihood that juvenile court rehabilitation programs would be effective.

This is all complicated because juvenile court procedures and terminology are different from adult court cases. (Read our Juvenile Court brochure at www.prosecutingattorney.info.) Talk with an attorney who specializes in defending juvenile court felonies!

Re: minor charged as adult

Maybe