Criminal proceedings for juvenile offenders tend to be different from the criminal proceedings of adult offenders in most states in the United States of America; Minnesota is no exception to this rule. Case study number one shows a 15 year old girl, Colleen, who has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. Colleen’s due process will be slightly different due to her age, than if she were 18 years old, or older.
Colleen has several pieces of information working against her in this particular case. She threw a pesticide on someone, which resulted in their death. Prior to the murder, Colleen was involved in another murder, of which the victim was related to the first murder victim. On the second murder, Colleen took the victim’s shoes. Lastly, Colleen had her blood tested. The resulting test showed Colleen having tested positive for opiates. These show that she had done drugs; although, she claims that she did not.
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On any felony charge, the accused should always be read their rights, if they are not; the accused can maneuver through the justice system in a way resulting in their release. So, police would’ve arrived to the murder site. The police would generally question the person who called the police to see what that person knows of the situation. However, due to the lack of information in the case study, it is unclear who the police would’ve communicated with first, or even, how they would know Colleen was the one who committed the murder.
Colleen would have been interviewed by the cops eventually. Upon being interviewed by the police, the police officers at the scene of the crime felt they had sufficient evidence to arrest Colleen. At this point, Colleen would be read her Miranda Rights upon being handcuffed. The Miranda Rights are as follows:
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the Court of Law. You have a right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you at the Court’s expense. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?”
After which, it is assumed Colleen said “yes” and placed into the squad car. At this point, Colleen would have been taken downtown to the police station and placed in a holding cell temporarily, unless her behavior would have deemed her a threat. Once placed in a holding cell, after having all her items on her person removed, Colleen would be taken to an interrogation room where she would be interrogated by the police.
It would be in Colleen’s best interest at this point to not say anything except “may I call a lawyer?” The police have to oblige and a lawyer would be called. Eventually, a lawyer would show up to the interrogation room where Colleen and the lawyer would speak for a short period of time.
Paperwork would be completed and Colleen would be held in jail until her hearing in court arrived. Upon her hearing in court, the judge would determine whether or not the justice system would pursue the case Colleen is involved in and whether or not to set bail. If bail was set the judge would set certain parameters in place to restrict activities for Colleen in her daily life.
Finally, a trial would arrive. Most likely Colleen would be convicted of her crime and given time in jail. Colleen would most likely have to serve her time since she murdered a person. Colleen would then serve a lengthy prison sentence and after almost 80 percent of the sentence, Colleen would have a parole hearing to see how she has behaved in prison.
This hearing would look at all the activities she has been a part of since she has started serving time. Ultimately, the panel would decide if Colleen would be eligible for early parole; meaning, she gets out of jail early to start life over and become a full functioning member of society. Although she would be released early, Colleen would still have to check in frequently to a parole officer to make sure she is getting her life on track.
During meetings with the parole officer Colleen would be expected to prove that she has tried to turn her life around. It would be expected that Colleen show her employment or attempts at employment. Also, Colleen would be advised to finish school or start some form of higher education; since she was taken out of school for committing murder at the age of 15.
Since Colleen’s reintroduction to society through rehabilitation would be of the upmost importance, excessive amounts of anger management and counseling would be required. Colleen would receive very structured counseling working with drug addiction, as well as, ways to deal the anger in a healthy fashion. Colleen’s healing would be of the upmost importance. After several years of parole, most likely weekly meetings, Colleen would be released into society. At this point she would be free and the expectation would be that Colleen would not commit any more heinous acts while still contributing positively to society.
Since Colleen was arrested at such a young age, her principle at her school would have to notified of her withdraw from the school. Most likely, the state would send her principle a letter stating “Colleen has been withdrawn from the school. The State of Minnesota has intervened in her education process at this time.”
While it is believed that Colleen did not mean to commit murder, she did in fact murder another individual. Even though Colleen is a minor, she committed murder and will be punished for it.
- “MINNESOTA RULES OF JUVENILE PROCEDURE.” MINNESOTA RULES OF JUVENILE PROCEDURE. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 July 2014. http://www.mncourts.gov/rules/juvenile/J
- “Miranda Rights.” Miranda Rights. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 July 2014. http://www.mirandarights.org/
