Ask Me Help Desk - Son violated probation, what are potential consequences

Hi,
In Dec. 2007, right after he turned 18, my son was caught smoking marijuana with a friend of his. The charges in Lake County Illinois were 3 misdemeanors, I believe all class 4. One was possession of drug paraphernalia (a pipe), one was perhaps possession of marijuana, don't recall the third, he has all the paperwork. We hired a lawyer and he was given a first-time offender deal. He paid $200 in court costs and was placed on unsupervised probation for one or two years. If he didn't get into any trouble, his conviction would be erased. I may have the wording wrong, but I haven't gotten him to send me the paperwork from this yet.

Well, 6 months later, in May 2008, he was caught smoking again, with a pipe, and this time with some alcohol and a fake id. He did not tell me about any of this. He went before the judge himself and apparently plead guilty to all three charges. He was fined $1,200 with one year to pay.

I just found out about this a couple of days before Christmas when I got a letter from the court addressed to him. Because he is away in California in college, I opened it, thinking it was regarding the case I knew about.

Instead, it is a petition for revocation of his supervision for the original Dec. 07 case because he violated the other laws in May. According to this the district attorney will go to court on January 14 to request leave to arraign the defendant on petition to revoke and hold a hearing instanter, "at which time you must appear or a warrant may be issued for your arrest." the notice says.

I haven't been able to contact the attorney yet as so many folks are on holiday right now, and I am quite worried about this. I can't tell from this document if my son has to be in court on January 14 or if his lawyer can go to court and request a court date at a later time.

And of course money is a big issue. I paid the $1700 lawyer fee for the first case and do not feel much inclined to bail my son out again. Of course, I also don't want this to damage his career prospects for the rest of his life because he made some stupid youthful mistakes. I divorced from his dad about 1.5 years ago, which I believe has had some negative effect on him. But that is something to think about for another day.

I'm looking for any information on the likely sequence of events now. Is my son required to be at this Jan 14 hearing? I truly cannot figure this out from the paperwork.

What are the likely penalties he faces?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BuddyMan

Hi,
In Dec. 2007, right after he turned 18, my son was caught smoking marijuana with a friend of his. The charges in Lake County Illinois were 3 misdemeanors, I believe all class 4. One was possession of drug paraphernalia (a pipe), one was perhaps possession of marijuana, don't recall the third, he has all the paperwork. We hired a lawyer and he was given a first-time offender deal. He paid $200 in court costs and was placed on unsupervised probation for one or two years. If he didn't get into any trouble, his conviction would be erased. I may have the wording wrong, but I haven't gotten him to send me the paperwork from this yet.

Well, 6 months later, in May 2008, he was caught smoking again, with a pipe, and this time with some alcohol and a fake id. He did not tell me about any of this. He went before the judge himself and apparently plead guilty to all three charges. He was fined $1,200 with one year to pay.

I just found out about this a couple of days before Christmas when I got a letter from the court addressed to him. Because he is away in California in college, I opened it, thinking it was regarding the case I knew about.

Instead, it is a petition for revocation of his supervision for the original Dec. 07 case because he violated the other laws in May. According to this the district attorney will go to court on January 14 to request leave to arraign the defendant on petition to revoke and hold a hearing instanter, "at which time you must appear or a warrant may be issued for your arrest." the notice says.

I haven't been able to contact the attorney yet as so many folks are on holiday right now, and I am quite worried about this. I can't tell from this document if my son has to be in court on January 14 or if his lawyer can go to court and request a court date at a later time.

And of course money is a big issue. I paid the $1700 lawyer fee for the first case and do not feel much inclined to bail my son out again. Of course, I also don't want this to damage his career prospects for the rest of his life because he made some stupid youthful mistakes. I divorced from his dad about 1.5 years ago, which I believe has had some negative effect on him. But that is something to think about for another day.

I'm looking for any information on the likely sequence of events now. Is my son required to be at this Jan 14 hearing? I truly cannot figure this out from the paperwork.

What are the likely penalties he faces?

If the notice says he must appear or be arrested I would assume if he doesn't appear he will, in fact, be arrested, wherever he is.

It sounds like the Court is attempting to revoke his probation and request that he serve the original sentence.

The first mistake I can see; the second one, I'm not so sure, particularly because he didn't share mistake number two with you. He's old enough, negative effects or not, to take responsibility for his actions.

Hopefully if you get a good Attorney this will be taken care of in the best way possible for your son's future.

(I'm not sure you can have two open screen names here. The moderators will send you the password you can't remember and probably close this, new account.)

Hi, thanks for the comments.
On the notice, it says the lawyer will appear before the judge on 1/14/2009 at 1:30pm, "or as soon thereafter as counsel may be heard." does this mean that my son's counsel can request a different date?
If he has to be there he will, but it would be less difficult to get him here by Jan. 14.
And at this Jan 14 hearing, would the matter be settled? I'm not sure what "request leave to arraign the defendant on petition to revoke and hold a hearing instanter" means. Not sure what arraign means.
Does it mean the hearing is held immediately?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BuddyMan

Hi, thanks for the comments.
On the notice, it says the lawyer will appear before the judge on 1/14/2009 at 1:30pm, "or as soon thereafter as counsel may be heard." does this mean that my son's counsel can request a different date?
If he has to be there he will, but it would be less difficult to get him here by Jan. 14.
And at this Jan 14 hearing, would the matter be settled? I'm not sure what "request leave to arraign the defendant on petition to revoke and hold a hearing instanter" means. Not sure what arraign means.
Does it mean the hearing is held immediately?

In NY if they want the client there, that's what the notice says. If they want the client AND the Attorney, that's what it says. "As soon thereafter" (in my area) gives leaway for an adjournment; it could also mean that the specific time of day is flexible, depending on the Court calendar that day.

It is the prosecutor's intention to request permission to arraign/charge your son for the violation, revoke his probation and hold a hearing, possibly a sentencing.

Yes, it sounds to me like the charge will be filed, the hearing will be held, the sentencing will be made all at one time.

I don't know how seriously the Court takes this but if they believe he is in violation - and it appears they believe he is - they can also simply issue a warrant for him and pick him up wherever he is. Instead they are requesting him to return for sentencing.

Thanks for the info. Of course I'll talk to his lawyer as soon as he is back in the office, but this gives me some idea of what to expect. Much appreciated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BuddyMan

Thanks for the info. Of course I'll talk to his lawyer as soon as he is back in the office, but this gives me some idea of what to expect. Much appreciated.

Sure, no problem and I hope you'll come back and let us know how this all works out.