As a Washington State teenager's parent you are no one to the justice system. According to an article in the Seattle Times, if your teen is between the age of 13 and 16, the police don't have to notify you that they are questioning your child. If they're 17, they're more or less considered and treated as adults. God forbid your child has a mental issue or learning problem, like my son, C.He was incapable of making a good decision in the process,such as shutting his mouth and asking for a lawyer. And because he has no impulse control, he was quite happy to talk about what happened with the detective.
My first contact with the jail was with a Juvenile Parole Counselor (JPC). They might let you talk to your child. When this happened for us, the JPC told me he'd call me back with my son. But apparently 5 pm quitting time was far more important. In the mean time he asked me maybe 5 questions like is C. in therapy, is he taking medications, etc. What pissed me off was that he asked me if C. had trouble controlling his anger. I had to take a few seconds to think about how to describe it, but I was given 1/2 a second. "Ok, so yes." Next question. I made him go back it pissed me off so bad. I know that anyone I'm talking to can be used against him. And I explained that while, he may say he is angry sometimes, he has always been quite proud of not ever displaying anger. Ever.
After that, I heard nothing for a day when someone from the public defenders office called me about the first 'charging' hearing. After the hearing nothing except when there's a hearing they want me to attend or the lawyer calls for information. But those are far and few between.
It is like your child has been killed. They are just gone. At the same time you're trying to understand what the hell happened. You don't have a right to know. The police won't release an arrest report until your child is charged, and then only if they are charged as an adult. And then you have to pay for it. If the crime is serious enough the only way you find anything out is from the newspapers. That's a Catch-22. They're mostly wrong, except for bail amounts. Oh, and the moment your child is charged as an adult, they print his name.
It's now been 3 months. I've had more calls from the jail nurse than my son's attorney, associated social worker or JPC. And all of them I can count on less than 10 fingers.
Case Highlights Law on Juvenile Interrogations, © 2005
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/case-highlights-law-on-juvenile-interrogations/
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