Juvenile Law

Dedham/Westwood, Massachusetts Attorney Defending Juvenile Clients

Each year in Massachusetts there are approximately 20,000 juveniles arraigned in court on criminal charges. Over a quarter of these youths are held annually on bail at The Department of Youth Services ("DYS") facilities while they await the outcome of their trials and a significant and ever increasing amount are eventually committed to DYS.

The overall DYS population increase, reportedly up 59% from 1994 to 2004, can be attributed to the courts committing more juveniles to DYS, longer average commitment lengths, and the increase in the amount of commitments extended beyond 18 years of age due to dangerousness.

If your child has been arrested or is accused of a crime in Massachusetts, advise them to exercise their right to remain silent and immediately contact Boston juvenile lawyer Philip L. Arnel for a free initial consultation.

The reality of it all is that today's juvenile court is a criminal court. Juveniles fall under the same Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure as adults. The district attorney of Massachusetts prosecutes juveniles, who are subject to arraignment, bail, conditions of pretrial release, and trial. Your child could be committed to DYS, which is the juvenile equivalent of incarceration. We will work incredibly hard to prevent that.

Massachusetts juvenile law attorney Philip L. Arnel represents youths charged with misdemeanor delinquent charges and felony youthful offender charges as part of our criminal juvenile law practice. Juveniles are undeniably more vulnerable than adult offenders and almost always require more directives. Research shows that habitual juvenile offenders typically later become offenders within the confines of the adult court and penal systems.

Therefore, our mission is twofold; to defend against the pending charges and to prevent the child from re-offending. We seek to educate our juvenile clients, and sometimes their parents, in order to guide them back on the right track and sincerely hope and believe that we can positively influence the child's future.

Juvenile proceedings and records thankfully remain confidential. The public scrutiny that your son or daughter could be subjected to in a criminal proceeding could severely hinder or even ruin their normal development. It is also commonplace for a child's peers to harass or ridicule them. We insist on maintaining this confidentiality and the integrity and self-esteem of the child.

We always work closely with parents during any juvenile proceeding. Active and aggressive involvement is stressed in every juvenile case all the way through trial and post-trial proceedings if necessary. Our areas of juvenile criminal defense practice include:

Violent crimes — assault, battery and threats

Property crimes — trespassing, willful and malicious destruction of property, vandalism

Motor vehicle offenses — attaching plates, leaving the scene of an accident, leaving the scene of property damage, negligent operation, driving to endanger, drunk driving (DUI DWI or OUI), unlicensed operation, stolen motor vehicle, malicious damage to motor vehicle, stealing parts, concealing motor vehicle theft, use without authority

Sex offenses — rape by a juvenile, aggravated rape by a juvenile, indecent assault and battery, sexual conduct for a fee (prostitution), sexual assault, committing lewd or wanton acts, open and gross, indecent exposure

Drug offenses — possession of a controlled substance; possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance; distribution of a controlled substance

Weapons charges — possession of firearms, gun, knife, Mace, pepper spray and dangerous weapons

Theft or larceny — breaking and entering, shoplifting, forgery, robbery, receiving stolen property

Civil rights violations — intimidation, hate crimes involving race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or disability

Other juvenile crimes — disorderly conduct, harassing or obscene phone calls, disturbing the peace, intimidating a witness or juror, perjury, refusal to obey police officer, resisting arrest, stalking

Contact Juvenile Crimes Defense Lawyer Philip Arnel

If you are a juvenile who has been accused of committing a crime, it is important to work with defense counsel who truly has your best interests in mind. We have aggressively represented thousands of clients and will continue to seek favorable dispositions for future clients in Massachusetts. Contact Dedham/Westwood juvenile crimes lawyer Philip Arnel for a free initial consultation.

For more information on juvenile law, please click on Juvenile FAQ. To learn more about a variety of topics in criminal juvenile law, please click here to go to our Criminal News page. For immediate assistance call us in Dedham/Westwood, Massachusetts at 781-708-4137.