juvenile arson charge

I am in Florida, My daughter is being charged with 2nd degree arson, she was in an old shed on our rental property. Anyhow she was burning some strings off an old chair in the shed, she tried to put the fire out but it got out of control, she is 16 years old and shouldn't of had a lighter but she did. It was wrong but to me it sounds accidental, and she is being charged with a 2nd degree felony. If anyone could give me some advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Hire a REALLY good attorney tomorrow.

In Florida a Juvenile is guilty untill proven innocent. A good lawyer will run between $3000 to $5000, and that is just for the lawyer to negotiate with the prosecutor. If he can get it dropped to a Misdemeanor I would take it. If you have any doubt as to the girls guilt avoid a trial if possible. If you are looking for justice good luck. Cost of a public defender, if you qualify, will make it possible to go to court, but a private lawyer will be around $20000 additional. If the prosecutor can make the charges such as she could be charged in adult court, your attorney will advise you to take a plea of guilty to keep it in Juvenile court. Remember in Florida the procecutor holds all the cards, and therefore judges you, and then the judge holds the cards when he passes sentence. You, your lawyer or your daughter do not.
see www.Justice4Kids.org ,
Juvenile records are
sold on line for $23 from www.fdle.state.fl.us/CriminalHistory. to see better where you stand.
Good Luck

Here is a further article that may interest you at least to give you an idea where you stand in the Florida legal system.
03/22/04 Judge juveniles case by case
Editorial, St. Petersburg Times
...in Miami-Dade, prosecutors are strong-arming children into waiving
their rights to release [from detention after 21 days] by threatening to
charge them as adults if they don't agree. Miami Republican Rep. J.C.
Planas, a former Miami-Dade prosecutor, wants this practice to stop. He
says some children have been jailed for up to six months due to this
waiver abuse in facilities that provide no treatment or counseling
programs. But Planas is backing off introducing legislation banning it
because Miami-Dade prosecutors told him they would charge more minors as
adults if they lose access to the waivers. This is a remarkable abuse of
power. The decision to put a child into the adult criminal justice system
should be based solely on the merits of case. It should not, under any
circumstances, be used as a bargaining chip to coerce minors into signing
away their rig hts. Nor should it be used as a veiled threat to persuade a
state lawmaker to change course.

tspencer34 said:

I am in Florida, My daughter is being charged with 2nd degree arson, she was in an old shed on our rental property. Anyhow she was burning some strings off an old chair in the shed, she tried to put the fire out but it got out of control, she is 16 years old and shouldn't of had a lighter but she did. It was wrong but to me it sounds accidental, and she is being charged with a 2nd degree felony. If anyone could give me some advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Click to expand...

**A: she has a good case for being an idiot.

Arson usually requires that the fire intentionally be lit ... she was lighting part of a chair on fire, intentionally ... hence, arson.

- Carl

thanks

Just wanted to say thanks for replying. I know my daughter was a complete idiot. I am not trying to get her out of trouble completely. I just know her and know that teenagers can do stupid things that they will regret when they get to be adults and a felony record even as a juvenile can ruin her life. I just needed some advice.

One Idea, I know has worked, if you can afford it. You will have to seek a lawyers advice. Ask if you can send your daughter to a program in Utah for building caracter and then place her in a controlled boarding school. all this before a court apearance. A stay of judgement for a lower offence may be obtained, it depends in what county you live. Apparently some do not know what helpfull advice is. calling a person stupid is not advise.

Redfisher, why are you trying to mislead this person?

The fact that your son was adjudicated to be a sex offender in Florida, does not mean that there is no justice in Florida. It means there is justice in Florida. Now, go away.

Punishment

Could anyone tell me if it is likely, that this charge can be reduced? Either way what type of punishment is my daughter looking at? This is the first crime she has committed. Thanks, Tonya

I can't say how likely it'd be that the State offers a lesser charge, but either way I wouldn't just roll over and plea without considering other possibilities. Florida's arson statute has no reckless component, so in order to be found guilty it would have to be proven that your daughter acted "willfully." Arson is when you set fire to a structure of some kind, and you must do it willfully. So even though she might have willfully set fire to a chair piece, that is not arson if she did not intend for the structure to catch fire. The distinction lies entirely in your daughter's head so if your daughter is telling the truth than she is literally innocent but it would be up to the jury to decide whether they believed her.

In any case, you are in some sense considered a victim of the crime since it was your property that was damaged. You can try contacting the DA's office and telling them that you'd like to file an affadavit requesting that the charges be dropped. It has no real legal value and the State can ignore it if they like...but it gives the prosecutor more leeway in reducing or dismissing the charge.