Need a Criminal Defense

What is the name of your state?TX

Here's part of the situation.

Kid has been arrested and charged with 3 different counts of burglary.

Only known witnesses are a kid who participated and one who has an axe to grind. All adult witnesses cannot make a positive ID of the "kids" they saw.

Kid 1 (arrested kid) also has a charge pending for possession of a single perscription tablet of Tylenol 3. (This charge is not one of those being brought to trial in this issue)


DA offered his lawyer this: If the kid will plead guilty on the "Tylenol" they will drop all 3 burglary counts.

Does this sound like the DA has a really weak case on the burglaries to you???


BTW this is the son of a friend of mine.

The kid did help carry away some of the tools in the first burglary, but in the third several other kids have established an alibi for the boy in that he wasn't even present.

Suffice it to say there are other circumstances that the police were not aware of which would impeach the testimony of the kid with the axe to grind, but bringing this to light would cause another girl to possibly be charged with "unauthorized use of a vehicle" (she took a neighbor's truck drove around in it and then brought it back.) Police don't know about this part they do know that some things were taken from this truck.

Any opinions???

IAAL I'm curious what your take on this would be.

I'm not IAAL but I'll give you my take on it, although it has been some years since I have done any juvenile criminal defense work.

The D.A.'s office proceeds on the stronger case. In a plea bargain, whether juvenile or adult, the plea bargain should take into account all outstanding cases. The fact that he isn't guilty of one burglary doesn't change the outcome if the D.A. proceeds on the Tylenol case. If the D.A. wins on the Tylenol, and he will, he will dismiss the burglary charges. If the D.A. loses on the drug charge, he will proceed to trial on the burglary. Do flip a coin: Heads the D.A. wins; tails the accused loses.

[JETX]

I agree... and offer that, depending on the actual charge on the prescription possession, it is probably far less (both punishment and future record) than 3 burglary counts (even without convictions).

Personally, if in this situation, I would not 'gamble' on the burglary (felony, dependant on circumstances) and would jump at the prescription (probably a single midemeanor).

[Kane]

It sounds like they've offered a pretty good deal to your friend's son to me, assuming they can convict him on the drug charge.

The only way to do better would be to take each of the four cases to trial, and win all four.

Yesterday the boy was found not guilty in 2 of the burglary charges.

One is still pending as well as the possession charge.

So far it looks like they will be done in 3 separate trials.

Thanks for the input people