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Criminal Mischief
Anonymous3 views3 answers
My 16 year old daughter was arrested for criminal mischief last night. It would have been petty larceny but a smirnoff wine cooler was taken. The total was about $35. This is the first time she has ever done anything like this. She's a really good kid, active in community service, girl scouts , and church youth group., She is a under doctors care as she has ADHD and Depression. and is on meds. Of course. yesterday she forgot to take them and this is the result. She is very impulsive and has impulsive behavior without them. What do we do? We don't want this on her permanent record.
Ask for a public defender if you cannot afford an attorney. Under the facts you have set forth, you should have the attorney speak to the prosecutor and seek an "adjournment in contemplation of dismissal" which puts the case over for six months and then it is dismissed and sealed if there are no new arrests. Since your daughter is 16 and has no priors, the worse case scenario is a youthful offender adjudication which is not a conviction and it is supposed to be sealed; but I have heard about criminal background checks finding YO adjudications. It all depends on the skill of the investigator. Your typical general background check probably won't pick up a YO and it cannot be deemed a criminal "conviction".
I basically agree with the entire first answer given. However, just to clarify a little, if the Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal is not offered (it should be) by the DA, then an offer of a straight Violation, such as a Disorderly Conduct, may be offered. If that is the case, she could plead guilty to it and not have a criminal record per se. Instead, she would have a Violation on her record, but that is not a crime.
In the alternative, she could ask for Youthful Offender, YO, status, which would mean that she would have to plead guilty to the Misdemeanor of Criminal Mischief or Petit Larceny and once that was completed, the Judge would then set aside the Judgment of Conviction and sentence her according to the original criminal conviction. That would allow her to avoid a criminal conviction as well, but what the first answer was alluding to was sometimes investigators can find a YO conviction even though they're not supposed to be able to do so.
My bottom line would be to first seek the ACOD and then take a hard look at the Violation as a plea. Remember, the record of a Violation remains sealed unless the DA insists upon the Defendant waiving sealing rights before they'll offer a plea bargain.
Good luck.
Michael Howard JosephPersonal Injury LawyerWhite Plains, NY ·
Criminal mischief usually involves damage to property
It is probably not a big deal. Typically prosecutors reduce the charge
Anyway. It will be a youthful offense which is not a criminal offense
