The legality of postponing a charge due to age.

[floyd]

NY - Is it legal for a prosecutor to postpone a felony charge when the inital arrest and conviscation of a "certain substance" was made when the person was under age... assuming that the prosecutor wants to charge the person as an adult?

 

[seniorjudge]

NY - Is it legal for a prosecutor to postpone a felony charge when the inital arrest and conviscation of a "certain substance" was made when the person was under age... assuming that the prosecutor wants to charge the person as an adult?

It doesn't make any difference when the prosecutor files the charge.

The charge will have to be tried under the laws as of the date of the charge. If the person was a minor on that date, then he will be tried as a minor.

 

[floyd]

It doesn't make any difference when the prosecutor files the charge.

The charge will have to be tried under the laws as of the date of the charge. If the person was a minor on that date, then he will be tried as a minor.

However, If the police arrested then released the person, but the prosecutor decided to wait until the person was legally an adult to put forth a felony charge... would this be legal?

 

[xylene]

Did the police release him with his bag of drugs and say "Hold on to this until you are 18 so we can arrest you as an adult..."?

Is that what you are asking?

 

[floyd]

Did the police release him with his bag of drugs and say "Hold on to this until you are 18 so we can arrest you as an adult..."?

Is that what you are asking?

Well.....basically....Yes, in a roundabout sot of way. The police conviscated the substances, but the person walked. Ergo the prosecutor magically appearing with a felony charge when defendent was of legal age to be tried as an adult. Legal?

 

[xylene]

Well.....basically....Yes, in a roundabout sot of way. The police conviscated the substances, but the person walked. Ergo the prosecutor magically appearing with a felony charge when defendent was of legal age to be tried as an adult. Legal?

It would seem that the prosecutor can only bring charges for the drugs on the day they were possessed.

I would urge your friend to-

Lay off the drugs

Get a lawyer.

 

[AustinLawyer]

Statute of Limitations

The prosecutor can wait the entire statute of limitations to file a formal charging instrument against you. In the case of a felony, that charging instrument is called an indictment.

But, unless you are certified as an adult, you will be charged as a juvenile, if you were a juvenile under the state's law at the time of the alleged offense.

Now, could a prosecutor knowingly or mistakenly get the date of the offense wrong? Yes, but that would be fairly easy to defend against. (Booking information, bonds, etc.) There really would have to be a vast conspiracy against you to let something like that slip through the cracks.

Austin Lawyer