Florida law generally provides for the prosecution of juvenile offenders in juvenile courts where rehabilitation and education are emphasized over punishment and retribution, as in adult courts. But over the last several decades, as violent crime has become a more serious concern among young people, Florida has expanded the practice of transferring juvenile offenders to adult courts for trial.
Every parent should understand the law regarding the trial of juveniles in adult courts. If your child is under 18 years old and is charged with a serious crime in Florida, contact an experienced criminal defense lawyer with a juvenile and adult criminal defense practice.
In Tampa and St. Petersburg, Stechschulte Nell, Attorneys at Law, have been defending adults and juveniles accused of a crime for decades. We understand the importance of protecting your child’s future and protecting them from the consequences of poor decisions that are so often part of growing up.
What Is the Minimum Age for Prosecuting a Juvenile as an Adult
In Florida, the prosecution decides when and whether to bring a juvenile’s criminal charges into an adult court for prosecution. This process is referred to as a “direct file.”
A child as young as 14 can be charged as an adult in Florida
and face life in prison without parole.
The law compels the prosecutor to initiate the transfer of a juvenile case to adult court in circumstances involving serious criminal offenses or when they have new felony charges after a previous transfer to adult court, or when they are 17 years old.
The United States Supreme Court determined that the U.S. Constitution protects anyone 15 years old or younger from being executed. However, Florida law does permit the state to impose the death penalty on juvenile offenders who are 16 years of age or older. There are currently death row inmates in Florida who were 17 when they committed their crimes.
In practice, Florida has not executed a juvenile in more than 50 years.
What Charges Will Expose Juveniles to Prosecution as Adults?
Florida law allows a prosecutor to file adult charges against a juvenile defendant for 21 separate crimes. The young person’s exposure to being tried in adult court depends on the offense with which they are charged and the number of prior adjudications of delinquency they have.
For 14 and 15-year-old offenders, their cases can be filed I adult court if they are charged with any of the following crimes:
- Murder;
- Manslaughter;
- Sexual battery;
- Robbery;
- Aggravated assault;
- Aggravated child abuse;
- Arson;
- Kidnapping;
- Throwing, placing, or discharging a bomb;
- Aggravated battery;
- Weapons during felony;
- Firearm on school property;
- Home invasion robbery;
- Aggravated stalking;
- Carjacking;
- Some lewd or lascivious offenses;
- Burglary
- Grand theft;
Older juveniles, ages 16 or 17, may be charged and prosecuted in adult court for any felony. And they may also be prosecuted in adult court for misdemeanors if they have two or more juvenile delinquent adjudications, of which one was for a felony. This applies even if adjudication was withheld.
Waiver Hearings
The transfer of a juvenile’s case to adult court is not automatic. The prosecutor’s request to file adult charges against a minor triggers the initiation of a hearing at which a judge will determine whether the transfer of the case from juvenile to adult court is warranted.
The court needs to weigh a number of factors and identify its findings on the record. The factors the court must consider include:
- the seriousness of the offense;
- the sophistication and maturity of the child;
- the record and previous history of the child, and
- whether the offense was committed with aggression, violence, premedication, or in a willful manner.
What Happens to a Child Convicted in Adult Court?
When a juvenile is tried in adult court, the trial judge has wide discretion in deciding what sentence to impose if the defendant is convicted. Although the case is in adult court, the law continues to permit the defendant’s young age to play a key role in determining whether to impose a harsh sentence or to sentence the defendant as a juvenile or as a youthful offender.
The law requires the judge to recognize and consider these other factors in deciding a sentence:
- The seriousness of the offense,
- Would juvenile or adult sanctions best protect the community?
- Was the offense was committed with aggression, violence, premedication, or in a willful manner;
- Was the offense one in which a person was victimized, or property was damaged? Did any personal victim suffer any injury?
- The sophistication and maturity of the offender;
- The previous history of the offender, including previous interactions with law enforcement and rehabilitative services or treatment;
- Prior periods of probation;
- Prior adjudications of delinquency as a child;
- Prior commitments to the DJJ, the former HRS, the DCF, or other facilities or institutions;
- The balance between protecting the public and producing a deterrent effect, as well as the likelihood of rehabilitation for the offender
- The availability of programs, facilities, and services and the defendant’s eligibility.
Defending a Juvenile In Adult Court
Few cases present a more tragic set of circumstances than the prosecution of a young juvenile on serious criminal charges in adult court. The prospect of so young a defendant’s life being profoundly changed by the outcome of a court case requires the criminal defense lawyer to employ all their skill and experience in the child’s defense.
Defending a child charged with a crime in an adult courtroom is complicated by the need to emphasize the extraordinary immaturity of the defendant, regardless of the alleged offense. Science has established that the human brain does not reach full development until roughly 28 years of age.
Learn More > How Florida’s Juvenile Justice System Works
Tampa Juvenile Defense
At Stechschulte Nell, our long years of courtroom experience enable us to represent the interests of the child and youthful offenders with the aggressiveness needed to fight for acquittal and the sensitivity to highlight the uniquely vulnerable nature of the accused.
If your child is charged with a crime, whether a charge remains in juvenile court or one that may be transferred into adult court, don’t settle for less than the most experienced and insightful defense available.
Contact Stechschulte Nell, Attorneys at Law in Tampa today; 813-280-1244.
