Law Office Of Joshua R. Bourne

Juvenile Delinquency/Minor in Possession

The Law Office of Joshua R. Bourne handles all cases dealing with juvenile crimes.

Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 governs the court's handling of minors who are charged with violating criminal laws.  This California Code section states:

602.  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), any person who is under the age of 18 years when he or she violates any law of this state or of the United States or any ordinance of any city or county of this state defining crime other than an ordinance establishing a curfew based solely on age, is within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge such person to be a ward of the court.

(b) Any person who is alleged, when he or she was 14 years of age or older, to have committed one of the following offenses shall be prosecuted under the general law in a court of criminal jurisdiction:

(1) Murder, as described in Section 187 of the Penal Code, if one of the circumstances enumerated in subdivision (a) of Section 190.2 of the Penal Code is alleged by the prosecutor, and the prosecutor alleges that the minor personally killed the victim.

(2) The following sex offenses, if the prosecutor alleges that the minor personally committed the offense, and if the prosecutor alleges one of the circumstances enumerated in the One Strike law, subdivision (d) or (e) of Section 667.61 of the Penal Code, applies:

(A) Rape, as described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 261 of the Penal Code.

(B) Spousal rape, as described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 262 of the Penal Code.

(C) Forcible sex offenses in concert with another, as described in Section 264.1 of the Penal Code.

(D) Forcible lewd and lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14 years, as described in subdivision (b) of Section 288 of the Penal Code.

(E) Forcible sexual penetration, as described in subdivision (a) of Section 289 of the Penal Code.

(F) Sodomy or oral copulation in violation of Section 286 or 288a of the Penal Code, by force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the victim or another person.

(G) Lewd and lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14 years, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 288, unless the defendant qualifies for probation under subdivision (c) of Section 1203.066 of the Penal Code.

Click here for information about Minors in Possession