Juvenile defense in Modesto
A juvenile case in California is not a small adult case. It runs in a separate court, on a separate calendar, under a separate code (the Welfare & Institutions Code), and with consequences that can reach well into adulthood — even when the case ends without a "conviction" in the criminal-court sense.
The other reality of juvenile court is that it moves quickly. Detention hearings happen within 48 hours. Adjudications follow soon after. The window for shaping the case is short.
What we handle
- WIC 602 petitions. The juvenile-court equivalent of a criminal complaint, alleging the minor committed an offense that would be a crime if committed by an adult.
- WIC 601 petitions (status offenses — truancy, curfew, runaway).
- Detention hearings under WIC 632.
- Fitness / transfer hearings under WIC 707, where the prosecution seeks to move a minor's case to adult court for serious offenses.
- Disposition — the juvenile equivalent of sentencing, including informal supervision, formal probation, camp commitments, and (rarely) DJJ-equivalent commitments under SB 823.
- School-discipline cases that overlap with criminal allegations.
- Sealing under WIC 781 and dismissal under WIC 786.
What's different about juvenile court
- No jury. Adjudications are bench trials in front of a juvenile-court judge.
- Different burden of proof? No — beyond a reasonable doubt still applies. But the procedure is different.
- Different language. Minors aren't "convicted"; they're "adjudicated." They aren't "sentenced"; they receive "dispositions." The labels matter, both legally and for record purposes.
- Confidentiality. Juvenile records have legal protections that adult records don't, but those protections are conditional and can be undone in adult proceedings.
- The court has rehabilitative authority that adult courts don't — including ordering services, school-based programs, and family interventions.
Transfer ("707") cases
For serious felonies committed by minors 16 or 17 (and in narrow circumstances 14 or 15), the prosecution can ask the juvenile court to transfer the case to adult court. The court considers five factors under WIC 707(a):
- The minor's degree of criminal sophistication.
- Whether the minor can be rehabilitated before juvenile-court jurisdiction expires.
- The minor's previous delinquent history.
- The success of previous attempts at rehabilitation.
- The circumstances and gravity of the offense.
A transfer hearing is, effectively, a small trial about who the child is. It requires real preparation — psychological evaluation, mitigation, school records, family history, and a credible rehabilitation plan.
Sealing and dismissal
- WIC 786 — In most cases where the minor satisfactorily completes the terms of probation, the petition is dismissed and records are sealed automatically.
- WIC 781 — A separate, broader sealing path available to clients who completed juvenile court without WIC 786 sealing. Available 5 years after wardship terminates or after the minor turns 18, whichever is later.
These remedies don't apply to all offenses, and they don't reach every record (some federal databases retain information). The right time to think about sealing is before the case ends, not after.
Collateral consequences
- Immigration. Most juvenile adjudications are not "convictions" for federal immigration purposes — but there are exceptions, and pleas in delinquency court can have unintended consequences. Don't plead without an immigration check.
- School discipline. Expulsion proceedings run on a separate track and are not bound by the juvenile court's outcome.
- Strike priors. Some juvenile adjudications can count as "strikes" if the minor is later prosecuted as an adult.
- Sex-offense registration. Some juvenile sex-offense adjudications can carry registration into adulthood.
- Public-record exposure is narrower than adult court but is not zero.
Working with parents and minors
Juvenile cases are family cases as well as legal cases. The parent or guardian is in the courtroom and on the case, but the attorney's duty is to the minor. That distinction matters most when what the minor wants and what the parent wants are not the same. We talk about that openly at the start.
What to do now
- Don't allow the minor to be interviewed without counsel, including by school officers, SROs, or social workers, no matter how informal it sounds.
- Preserve everything — texts, social-media accounts, photos.
- Get school records together early. A juvenile case is partly a story about the child, and the records are most of the story.