This document discusses the differences between the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. For juveniles aged 10-16 who are charged with a crime by petition, the process is mainly civil and focuses on rehabilitation rather than punishment. Juveniles have the right to a detention hearing and can be detained if found to be a danger. Punishment for juveniles can include probation, placement in a juvenile detention facility, or determinate sentencing where a portion of the punishment is served in the adult system. [END SUMMARY]

2.  Retribution
over
rehabilitation

3. “This title shall be construed to effectuate the
following public purposes: to provide for the
care, the protection, and the wholesome
moral, mental, and physical development of
children coming within its provisions and to
protect the welfare of the community and to
control the commission of unlawful acts by
children.”

4.  17 yrs. age or older
 Charged by Indictment
 Found “guilty”
 Bond hearing
 Criminal in nature
 Arrested
 Beyond a Reasonable
Doubt
 10yrs. – 16 yrs. of age
 Charged by Petition
 Found delinquent
 Detention Hearing
 Mainly Civil
 Detained
 Beyond a Reasonable
Doubt

5. Trial
Voir Dire
Guilt/Innoc.
(Delinq/Not
Delinq.)
Punishment
(Disposition)

6. Detained (arrest)
Detention
Pretrial
Plea/StipulationJury Trial Non Jury Trial
Punishment/
Disposition
Charging
Dismissal

7.  Restrained to the to the degree associated
with formal arrest
◦ Juvenile: detention
◦ Adult: Arrest

8. Bond Hearing (Adult)
Detention Hearing
(Juvenile)
 To ensure D’s return to
court; safety of
community
 Can not be a tool of
oppression
 Can get out if…
◦ Personal Recognizance
◦ Surety
◦ Cash
 A Juvenile will be
released unless the Judge
finds...
◦ Prior adjudication(s)
◦ Danger to self
◦ Danger to community
◦ Likely to abscond/be
removed from the
jurisdiction
◦ No suitable supervision

9. a) A lawyer
b) A bond
c) Subpoena witnesses
d) Test evidence by a laboratory

11.  Volunteered Statements
 Voluntary Statements
 Confession (Adult)
 Magistrated Statements (Juvenile)

12.  Volunteered statements are not covered by Miranda and
are allowed into evidence.
 Res Gestae
◦ Defined: statement made close in time to the event that is
spontaneous, not induced.
◦ Same as with an adult.
◦ Example: You approach a juvenile smoking a joint outside
Walmart, and he blurts out, “It’s not mine. I’m just holding it
for a friend.”
 Any oral statements made that are found to be true,
which tend to establish the adult’s/child’s guilt, such as
finding of secreted or stolen property, or the instrument
with which the offense was committed.

13.  What is a voluntary statement?
◦ A statement made by a person who is not subject to custodial
interrogation
 What’s custodial interrogation?
◦ Custody + interrogation = statement is inadmissible as a
voluntary statement
◦ Custody: determined on whether, based upon the objective
circumstances, a Reasonable Prudent Person/ reasonable child of
the same age would believe her freedom of movement was
significantly restricted.
 Based on Totality of circumstances (court looks at the whole situation)
◦ Interrogation: any question or action on the part of law
enforcement which seeks to elicit an incriminating response

14.  Sec. 38.22 Texas Penal Code
 Process
◦ Must be videotaped or in writing
 Told rights on video/rights printed on the written
confession
 Person voluntarily waive rights (on video or in writing)

15. o In order for a juvenile custodial statement to be
admissible in court, the following procedure must
be followed:
 Juvenile is given Miranda Rights upon detention (arrest).
 Juvenile must be transported to the juvenile detention facility.
 Juvenile must again receive Miranda warnings by juvenile
detention officer.
 Juvenile must be taken to a magistrate who warns juvenile
again.
 Officer takes juvenile’s statement.
 Officer takes juvenile back to magistrate who warns juvenile
again. Juvenile must sign the statement in front of the
magistrate.
 Officer must deliver juvenile back to juvenile detention center
where the juvenile is detained.
This process must be completed within six hours.

16.  Indeterminate
 Determinate
 Certification

17.  Lowest level of punishment in the juvenile system.
It allows the juvenile to be released from probation
if he completes it successfully.
 Includes probation where the child lives at home,
probation out of the home such as a boot camp or
treatment facility, and placement in the Texas
Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) formerly known
as Texas Youth Commission (TYC).
 Probation terminates automatically when the
juvenile reaches his eighteenth birthday or when
the juvenile reaches his nineteenth birthday and is
in TJJD.

18.  This is the intermediate level of juvenile
punishment.
 Determinate punishments must be approved by a
grand jury because it allows the prosecutor to seek
punishment that extends into the adult system.
 The juvenile begins punishment in the juvenile
system and that punishment can be transferred to
the adult system for the juvenile to finish the
punishment as an adult offender.
 Prosecutor can ask for up to 10 years for a third
degree felony, up to 20 years for a second degree
felony, and up to 40 years for a first degree felony.

19.  Certification is the transferring of a juvenile’s
case to the adult court for the juvenile to be
tried as an adult and receive adult
punishment.
 Reserved for serious felonies.
 Before transfer, juvenile is entitled to a
hearing.
 (Juveniles are not eligible for the death
penalty regardless of the crime).