Juvenile court

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If the victim is a child (in pedophile cases, for example), will it be the bench trial or the jury trial?

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Type: Question • Score: 4 • Views: 1,082 • Replies: 15

[+5] - jespah - 12/08/2018The term plaintiff is from [i]civil[/i] law. The kind of case you are talking about is [i]criminal[/i] law. The entity going against the defendant is the state, as represented by the District...
[+4] - tsarstepan - 12/07/2018[quote="HappyLogan"] will it be the bench trial or the jury trial? [/quote] [quote]D. THIS SERVICE DOES NOT PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL LEGAL ADVICE. All of the services' content, including...
[+4] - jespah - 12/08/2018It's a jury trial unless defense says they don't want one. And they probably don't in such a matter. Most juries would not be kind.
[+3] - maxdancona - 12/07/2018Anyone in the US who is charged with a serious criminal offense has a constitutional right to a jury trial. Only the defendant can waive that right.
[+3] - Sturgis - 12/07/2018[quote]...listens to what her lawyer tells her.[/quote] You ain't particularly fond of women are you max? HappyLogan has not said if the offender is male or female.

@HappyLogan,

HappyLogan wrote:

will it be the bench trial or the jury trial?

Quote:

D. THIS SERVICE DOES NOT PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL LEGAL ADVICE. All of the services' content, including postings, is for informational purposes only. The service is not intended to be a substitute for professional legal advice, and no attorney/client privilege is to be inferred from any postings herein. Always seek the advice of a qualified legal professional with questions you have regarding a legal matter. You should not disregard professional legal advice because of something you have received from or read in the able2know service.

But ultimately, the answer depends on the country; state; or regional courts and the laws that guide them to push the trial to fruition.

1 Reply

@tsarstepan,

Thanks for the answer! I talk about New York. And I know that it depends on many factors, but what is the most common variant in cases with, as I said, pedophiles?

1 Reply

@HappyLogan,

Anyone in the US who is charged with a serious criminal offense has a constitutional right to a jury trial. Only the defendant can waive that right.

2 Replies

@maxdancona,

Thank you for answering! Does it mean that if the defendant wants a bench trial they can get it?

1 Reply

@HappyLogan,

For that you will have to ask a lawyer (but I suspect the answer is yes). A defendant has a right to a jury trial, I am not sure how it works the other way around...

Hopefully a person charged with such a serious crime has a good lawyer and listens to what her lawyer tells her.

1 Reply

@maxdancona,

Quote:

...listens to what her lawyer tells her.

You ain't particularly fond of women are you max? HappyLogan has not said if the offender is male or female.

1 Reply

@Sturgis,

Quote:

You ain't particularly fond of women are you max? HappyLogan has not said if the offender is male or female.

I am not particularly fond of gender stereotypes. I tend to use the gender pronouns that break stereotypes; I have used them to refer to engineers and scientists too.

The interesting question is whether you would have said anything had I used the male pronoun.

1 Reply

@maxdancona,

That's a place where we differ. I try to avoid gender when it's not known. The use of their and they are what I go with. (which is better than the use of he and him which has been standard for centuries). Many nonbinary folks use they and their as well.

Yes, I might well have said something if you had gone all manly.

1 Reply

@Sturgis,

Pointing out that women can be engineers and CEOs shows progressive thinking, but pointing out that women can also be sex offenders upsets people. I think that is interesting. Both of these facts challenge prevalent gender stereotypes.

That being said... I don't like plural pronouns for singular human beings (although I get the reasoning behind them and accept their historical use).

1 Reply

@maxdancona,

In the case of a nonbinary, they and their are not considered plural. Odd as it may seem, it does not apply to plural when I am writing it. I just do not want to jump to conclusions as to a gender. Then again, we are all who we are.

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@maxdancona,

I'm not sure that applies to juvenile courts.

1 Reply

@roger,

Juvenile court implies that the perpetrator is a minor. If the perpetrator of a felony against a child is an adult, it goes to adult court. Saying anything more is diving into pure speculation.

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@HappyLogan,

It's a jury trial unless defense says they don't want one. And they probably don't in such a matter. Most juries would not be kind.

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Thanks to everyone for answering! I've come to the conclusion (by reading the New York Constitution) that in New York a defendant can waive their right to a jury trial and get a bench trial even without a plaintiff's consent (but they need the judge's consent anyway, though).
Also, I haven't talked about any person in particular: it's just a made-up case, which I've read in the book and wanted to educate myself.
P.S. I'm sorry for any mistakes in my messages — English is not my first language.

1 Reply

@HappyLogan,

The term plaintiff is from civil law. The kind of case you are talking about is criminal law. The entity going against the defendant is the state, as represented by the District Attorney (or, most of the time an Assistant District Attorney).

Rights differ. Defendants are protected more rigorously in criminal cases because people's freedom and sometimes their lives, are at stake, whereas in civil cases it's almost always money and property that are at stake (there are lots of exceptions but the gist of it is that the penalties in criminal cases are inevitably a lot higher).

0 Replies

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