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Felony charges against my son

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margretann

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Arkansas

My 18 year old son was arrested for 21 counts of Felony Criminal Mischief (graffiti), one count of Burglary Residential (felony - for entering a home under construction and graffiting a wall) and one felony count of threatening to cause a catastrophe (he wrote a bomb message in a stall of the men's bathroom in a large retail store as a stupid joke).

His arraignment is Jan 25. He lost his job over this and has no funds for an attorney. My husband and I don't have funds for an attorney either. At the arraignment, will a public defender be assigned to him?

He has never been in trouble before, not even while he was in high school. How likely is it that these charges will be lowered to lesser charges? I am very scared and don't know what to do.

Thank you!
 


FlyingRon

Senior Member
They may reduce some of this, but your son is in a heap of trouble.

Yes, he must request the public defender at the arraignment. The judge will probably prompt him to make this request if he shows up unrepresented. He'll fill out a form indicating his financial situation to qualify. After that, he must call the public defender's office within 20 days to establish his initial appointment with the attorney.

Most of the Arkansas counties appear to have pages on their public defenders office.
 

margretann

Junior Member
They may reduce some of this, but your son is in a heap of trouble.

Yes, he must request the public defender at the arraignment. The judge will probably prompt him to make this request if he shows up unrepresented. He'll fill out a form indicating his financial situation to qualify. After that, he must call the public defender's office within 20 days to establish his initial appointment with the attorney.

Most of the Arkansas counties appear to have pages on their public defenders office.

Thank you for replying, FlyingRon.

I found the website for our county today and it says that he must wait for his arraignment for the judge to assign the public defender. Otherwise, I can find no information on getting a jump start on getting a public defender assigned to him.

My son was arrested at work and I wasn't allowed to speak with him until 4:00 am ... at that time, he had spilled his guts and admitted to all. They did not read him his rights when they arrested him, but they did when they started questioning him, he says. Is that the proper way?

Also, my son says some of the graffiti was done before he turned 18. Can they try him as an adult for those he did before he became an adult?

Thank you for your time. We have never had trouble with the law before now and don't know what to expect.
 

FlyingRon

Senior Member
My son was arrested at work and I wasn't allowed to speak with him until 4:00 am ... at that time, he had spilled his guts and admitted to all. They did not read him his rights when they arrested him, but they did when they started questioning him, he says. Is that the proper way?
Your son is an adult. The police are not obliged to involve his mommy in any portion of the prosecution. The rights are only required prior to custodial questioning. It sounds like they did do that properly
Also, my son says some of the graffiti was done before he turned 18. Can they try him as an adult for those he did before he became an adult?
Yes, I believe in Arkansas it's at the discretion of the prosecutor but the judge can send it back into the juvenile system if he deems it appropriate.
 

margretann

Junior Member
Yes, I understand he is an adult. I'm not trying to excuse his behavior whatsoever. I do feel he should be punished, but I don't think jail is the correct punishment. I think he should be made to pay for and personally do the cleanup, pay fines and to perform community service so that he learns how harmful graffiti truly is.

As we all know, the age of 18 makes someone an adult in society, but that doesn't mean he isn't naive and that it was just plain stupid to have done these things. The most he has even been in trouble is for skipping school once in the 7th grade. That is why I am so shocked at all of this and don't know what to expect. I don't understand if some of the crime committed was done when he was underage, how that can't come back on me and his father. I don't want to have to pay personally for his mistakes, for he will not learn a thing.

I say this last bit with respect for this forum: I do not appreciate the "Mommy" references, especially after reading the post from that last peson that was deleted before I could respond to it. If saying this means banning me from this forum, so be it. Just because my son committed stupid acts doesn't mean I'll abandon him when he needs help and information. That was all I was looking for when I came here.
 

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