Agenda - 12-16-1997 - 10e - Laserfiche WebLink

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Report on the Teen Court Pro----v 9 within the recommended guidelines for the specific offense. The offender must complete the sentence within 90 days, and is given specific deadlines for completion of the separate components of jury service, community service, and educational seminars. After completing the sentence, the offender provides proper documentation to the Teen Court Administrator, who closes the case and notifies the referral source of completion. If the sentence is not completed, the Administrator reports this fact to the referral source, who takes whatever action it deems appropriate. Buncombe County. At present, Buncombe County Teen Court accepts referrals only . from the Juvenile Division of the District Attorney's office. Any cases in which juvenile services intake counselors have approved the filing of a juvenile petition for undisciplined or delinquent behavior may be reviewed by the Chief Court Counselor (or designee not involved in intake) and the Assistant District Attorney who handles juvenile matters to determine whether a referral to Teen Court would be appropriate. Cases that are generally considered inappropriate for Teen Court are those involving sexual assaults, violent assaults or acts that result in serious injury, sale or delivery of controlled substances, and gang violence or hate crimes. Juveniles who are generally considered inappropriate for Teen Court are those with serious mental or emotional disabilities, those charged with adult defendants for committing serious offenses against property or persons, and those who previously failed to complete a teen court sentence. However, referral in any of the above situations may occur if approved by a district court judge. After a referral to Teen Court is made and the case is deemed appropriate by the Teen Court Coordinator, the juvenile and parent/guardian are offered the opportunity to participate in Teen Court as an alternative to the traditional juvenile court procedure. If they are interested in the teen court option, they are provided with a written summary and explanation of the process and are shown a videotape about the program. To participate in Teen Court,juvenile offenders must prepare a written statement admitting the underlying offense that would otherwise be the basis of the juvenile petition. The Coordinator then schedules the juvenile for a court appearance, assigns the offender a student attorney, and informs both the offender and the attorney of this assignment. The offender and attorney may meet to discuss the case before the hearing; otherwise, they discuss the case on the night of the hearing, prior to the case being called. When the offender and parent/guardian appear for court as scheduled, the juvenile offender reviews the jury pool list and may, with a written explanation, exclude anyone listed from his or her specific jury. Similarly, the jury pool members review the list of offenders scheduled for hearing and may, with a written explanation, excuse themselves from the jury for certain offenders. When the judge calls a case for hearing, the juvenile offender may question the prospective jurors about their qualifications and about any bias that may prevent them from serving in a fair and impartial manner. The juvenile offender may then excuse two jurors from the panel (thus far, however, no one has exercised this right). The juvenile is sworn in, tells what happened, and answers questions asked by the defense attorney and prosecutor. The prosecution and defense may call other witnesses, such as the victim or character witnesses, although as yet this option has not been used very often.