victims rights

[Eva Weikel]

arkansas, my son and 3 of his friends kicked in my front door and my son took my purse, I called the police, they were arrested and are sitting in jail now. the prosecutor called asked me what i wanted to do, i told her i didn't wish to testify, she sent me a subpeona. what are my rights?
what is the least/best response to minimize the damage to my son? i want my son to receive the treatment/action to facilitate the solution to this legal problem, and not to assist unwarranted persecution. my son needs help in coping with the rejection from his father, and needs rehabilition to learn the proper behavior to handle lifes temptations.
thank you for your time and assistance,

 

[calatty]

If you wanted to get help for your son, you should have called a psychiatrist, not the police. You have no choice but to obey a subpoena, and you have no say in whether the criminal prosecution proceeds or not.

 

[talianna]

Eva, you didn't mention how old your son was. That makes a huge difference.

If he's a teen-ager or younger, there's a chance that they'll get him the help he needs.

If he's an adult, it all depends on the judge, how much trouble he's been in before, and lots of other things.

Not that it matters much to you, I'm sure, but if he's willing to bring friends and kick your door in to steal your purse, then you were probably right to report him to the police. He could become a danger to you later if someone doesn't intervene. It's not persecution, Eva, it's protecting the community, because if he'll do something like that to his mother, what would he do to others?

I really feel for you, but in my opinion, and I'm not a legal professional, be honest about what happened and hope for the best. If you lie or refuse to testify, you're going to get yourself into trouble and do nothing to get your son any kind of help. There are programs out there that even if he's an adult and convicted, he can get into, especially if he gets probation. There's a chance, as a victim of his, that you might be able to submit a suggestion for him to be treated instead of punished in a victim impact statement or something. Doesn't mean the judge will go for it, but it can't hurt.