As someone who is facing the prospect of your child being charged with a crime, it can be an incredibly difficult and confusing time. The thought of your child being considered an adult in the eyes of the law is a daunting one, with potential serious consequences. Understanding when children can be charged as adults…
Continue reading ›Orange County Juvenile Defense Blog
- Fentanyl Charges for Minors in Orange County: What Parents Must Know in 2026
- What Is a 602 Petition in California and What Happens Next?
- When a Victim Refuses to Cooperate in an Orange County Juvenile Case
- How California’s Raised Age of Juvenile Court Jurisdiction Affects Your Teen’s Case
- What Orange County Parents Should Know About Plea Agreements in Juvenile Court
A fitness hearing under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 707 is a court proceeding where a judge decides whether a minor should be transferred from juvenile court to adult criminal court. The prosecution can request a transfer for minors aged 16 or 17 accused of a felony, or for minors aged 14 or 15 accused…
Continue reading ›To get a child released from juvenile hall in Orange County, a juvenile defense lawyer can argue for release at the detention hearing. Under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 632, this hearing must take place within 48 hours of the arrest, excluding weekends and holidays. In Orange County, detention hearings are held at the Betty…
Continue reading ›Fentanyl-related charges against minors in Orange County carry severe potential consequences. California has significantly increased penalties for fentanyl offenses through Assembly Bill 701 (effective 2024) and Proposition 36 (approved November 2024), which lowered quantity thresholds for sentencing enhancements. While the juvenile court system still prioritizes rehabilitation, the charges themselves are serious. The Law Office of…
Continue reading ›A 602 petition is the formal charging document in California juvenile delinquency proceedings. Filed by the district attorney under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 602, it asks the juvenile court to declare a minor a ward of the court based on allegations that the child violated state or federal law. The petition applies to minors…
Continue reading ›A juvenile case in Orange County can still move forward even if the victim refuses to cooperate with the prosecution. The district attorney can rely on police reports, physical evidence, witness statements, and other documentation to sustain the petition under WIC 602. Parents who assume a case will be dropped because the victim does not…
Continue reading ›California closed its state-run Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) under Senate Bill 823, shifting responsibility for serious juvenile offenders to county-level programs and extending the maximum age of juvenile court jurisdiction. For families in Orange County, this means teens adjudicated for serious offenses now remain in local facilities, including the Orange County Probation Department’s Juvenile…
Continue reading ›A plea agreement in California juvenile court is not the same as pleading guilty in adult court. When a minor accepts a plea in juvenile proceedings, the child admits to the petition filed under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 602, and the court sustains the charges rather than entering a conviction. The Law Office of…
Continue reading ›If a family moves out of Orange County while a child has an open juvenile case, the case does not go away. Under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 750, the juvenile court in Orange County can transfer jurisdiction to the county where the family relocates. The Law Office of Katie Walsh handles juvenile criminal defense…
Continue reading ›When both the accused and the alleged victim in a juvenile case are minors, the court must balance two sets of protections at the same time. At the Law Office of Katie Walsh, our Orange County juvenile defense attorney has handled cases where teenagers on both sides of the allegation are classmates, teammates, or members…
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