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Speak Up! - View Question #262 |
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Question: If you commit a crime at age 17 and turn 18 by the time it goes to court, does ARS 8-302 mean it automatically goes to adult court and the defendant must suffer adult penalties if found guilty?
Answer: The short answer is 'yes'.
The juvenile court loses jurisdiction when the minor reaches 18. The prosecutor usually looks at the minor's age, and decides if there is enough time to adjudicate the offense and have the minor complete his/her consequences. If the minor is close enough to 18, they just hang on to the charges, wait for the minor's 18th birthday and then file the charges with the court. Even though the offense was committed when the minor was 17, they will be sentenced accorting to adult sentencing provisions. If the minor disappears and evades the law while charges are pending and then reappears close to his or her 18th birthday, this can also happen.
If a minor is charged with something and admits or is found delinquent after a contested hearing, but is not sentenced or doesn't complete his consequences before he turns 18, a defense attorney could argue double jeopardy has attached and the case cannot be transferred to a different court.
A.R.S. 13-501 also allows for direct file into adult court for certain charges when the minor is 14 or older. (We also still have a provision for the transfer hearing on offenses that the state cannot directly file into adult court, but it has been used rarely since Prop 201 was passed).
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