Thread: My son may be tried as an adult ????

Hi my name is Kris,
I need some help. My son is currently in a tyc facility west texas state school . while there he assulted a kid and a guard they are trying to charge him as an adult. What do i do first? He is only 16 1/2. The facility is under investagation they are only at half capacity and half staffed. When he first arrived there i was not notified by his case worker ever about anything. I was never notified about the assult incdent untill his grandparents went to visit . I then tried to contact his case worker and got no response i then contacted the warden and finally found out what was going on, the case worker finally called me and told me he had no time to call me because he was busy. when i asked him about my sons records he said that he had not had a chance to read it, mind you he was his case worker for over a month. When i called the warden back he admitted that they had dropped the ball some where along the line by not helping these kids. I know my son did wrong but could some of this been prevented if they were doing there job.What steps can i take? When the attorney general goes to decide if he should be charged as an adult can he have a attorney representing him?

oh my god,i cant believe i stumbled upon this and i feel like a complete jerk right now,this is rick,costa...krissy,now i know for shure your now resting on your laurels,i am so sorry for what i said and i hope you understand i was just frustrated and am scared to death about kenny being in an adult jail,my whole world just crumbled when i heard you tell me that,we have to do something about this,i know you said the district attorney is his lawyer but he is still just a public defender and that is the worst person to defend our son,you need to pay the money and get him an excellent lawer,a public defender is not going to do all he can because he is getting paid nothing from the state,money talks,bullshit walks,did your dad offer to pay for a lawyer,i know hes not broke,and im not pointing fingers and saying its anybody fault,im just asking you,did he?...you know what,kenny needs me right now more than ever in his life and im am going to texas and am going to do whatever possible to get him out of there,you cannot charge a 16 year old kid as an adult for fighting,no way...i am just so sorry for saying those things to you...again,now that i seen this i know your really trying,obviously i am in just as much pain as you right now and i know you know this,please forgive me for what i said to you at this ****ed up time in our lives,and please answer my calls when i call you,this is my worst nightmare and i know it is yours too...but i know what i have to do and i hope you stand behind me and i know you will...i going there asap....again...im sorry...for everything.

what a fool i was,if i had one wish,i whould wish for a time machine,and i whould take myself back to 1992,the day our son was born and before all the pain i put you through,words cannot express how much i loved you and still do,there is not a day that goes by that i dont think about you,you were my first....my last...my everything,and when i say first,i mean my first true love,till this day,and it will never die,the pain will always be present as long as i live,no matter who comes into my life,you were the one,the one that got away,you broke my heart ,and i deserved it,looking into your eyes was like looking into a beautifull clear blue sky or a beautifull sunset,whatever i did or said to you was because of my own insecuritys,it was all my fault,you held on for so long,you were the best thing that ever happened to me and i am proud to say i was once your man,you gave me a child which was the greatest gift any person can give,it was certaintly better to have loved and lost you,than to not have loved you at all,in your eyes.....the light.....the heat....i love you and kenny always.....im so sorry i did not turn out like you whould have hoped,all i can say now is i finally did change,and i really and truly hope you are happy,beacuse you deserve to be....love always...ricky.

Your son should not be put in jail because he is only a minor he should be put in a rehabilitation center you should consult a lawyer to help you in your case

So he already had a record, and he assaulted not only another kid, but also a guard? That's bad. Unfortunately, he probably will be tried as an adult because of the seriousness of the offense, and the fact that he's over 16.

As far as legal representation, he will be asked during his arraignment if he has an attorney, or if he needs one. If you don't have enough money for an attorney, then the court will appoint a public defender to represent him for free.

As far as the faculty not doing their job? It might hurt your case to bring that up. The reason your son's case worker did not have time to review the case is because there is a massive shortage of case workers. I would not be surprised if he has 40-50 kids that he has to help. Your son is very close to being a legal adult, and if he has already shown a long history of this sort of behavior, he may not be as high of a priority for the case worker as the other kids. I'm sorry to have to tell you that, but you deserve to hear the truth.

The reason it would hurt your case is that if your son is tried as an adult, that will reduce your case workers load. If the judge sympathizes with the case worker, and the other children that he has to help...your son may just have to answer for his crimes.

I do agree that your son is not an adult, but as he has committed a crime i think he will be punished in a way a minor should be.

Alltho this is from 08 he should not have assaulted a guard self defense is one thing but to be honest better parenting and some guidance would have done your son great and i am a parent and a young one at that but i realize this parents need to stop being lazy and commit to your responsibilities your sons trial is now over and his sentence is probably still going on but i bet my life on the fact that you as a parent could have done better. And you should have visited him not you parents. So feel guilty because you are and the fact is he has screwed his whole life up now and you now have to move on and try to better yourself with it being even harder.

Like the previous respondents have said, because your son is so close to being a legal adult (and has a previous record) a judge is more likely to be unsympathetic and try him as an adult, as opposed to if this was his first offense. And like another person said before me, focusing on the case worker "dropping the ball" sheds more negative light on the case. Instead, it's probably a much better idea for you and your defense criminal lawyer to focus on the positive things that your son has done since being in a juvenile center, and efforts he's made to rehabilitate himself.

Rule is rule and apply on every one! your son committed crime now he has to punished.