Once upon a time we went to an indoor haunted maze in Kentucky. Every now and then we were relieved to come across an illuminated grisly display, none memorable. The rest of the time we were in total darkness. Negotiating a pitch black maze with two small children is an unforgettably unsettling experience.
I’d never experienced anything similar until this fall when I tried to figure out what was going on in the case against the creep who did not plead not guilty to battering my daughter.
Here’s one oddness. I thought legal cases generated a lot of documents. But pictured here is the total amount of paperwork I have to show for this case which began with the police report on August 29 and ended with the hearing November 15 (excluding a one-sheet handout from the Alabama crime victims compensation fund):
That’s all, folks. One 4″ by 4″ piece of paper with the reporting officer’s name and ID, the date and time, and the case number.
Inside are lists of phone numbers, including that of the Robert Neaves Center, commonly known as the D-home. I was instructed to wait a day for the report to enter the system, then to go down to the D-home and sign a petition.
Because Daughter is a minor, even though she provided all the information, I had to sign the police report and petition.
There were forms to fill out — but I was given no copies. As an aside, I was present when my daughter filled out the police report. When she got to the narrative, she asked if it should be in essay form or a bulleted list. The officer said it didn’t matter, but just be as succinct as possible.
Later I had her write out in detail what had happened and took that down to the D-home.
At the D-home I signed a “petition” which is like a formal complaint. Again, I was not given a copy. VOICES for Alabama’s Children defines a petition as:
a sworn, written document signed by a person 18 years of age or older who has knowledge of specific facts or is informed of facts alleging that a child is delinquent and believes that those facts are true. A petition gives the juvenile court jurisdiction once it is filed with the clerk of the court. A petition is only filed with the clerk of the court after an intake officer has determined that the court has subject matter jurisdiction, venue, probable cause and the filing of the petition is in the best interest of the public and/or the child. Allegations of a juvenile delinquency petition are treated by the same standards of sufficiency as a criminal complaint or indictment, i.e., it is a charging instrument placing the accused on due process notice of the nature of the pending charge against him or her.
Finding out what would happen next is when things really began to get murky.
Oh, by the way, it would be helpful if Huntsville Hospital’s pediatric social workers knew more about the juvenile justice system than I had managed to learn less than 24 hours into this ordeal:
Pingback: Navigating the Juvenile Justice System. Things Should Have Gone Differently From the Start. | Havealittletalk's Blog