Can my son be charged with anything if he was not taken to the police station, photographed or fingerprinted?

Question

I was told by police that my juvenile son was being charged with 2 felonies. He was taken to the police station, not read Miranda rights, not photographed or fingerprinted. He was given no papers to sign. He was questioned and released the same night. A month has gone by and I have not received any court date in the mail. Can he be charged under these circumstances?

George Woodworth · Answer

Yes.

Jules N. Fiani · Answer

Yes.

Jared Altman · Answer

Yes.

Geoffrey MacLaren Yaryan · Answer

Yes.

Cynthia Henley · Answer

Yes, he can still be charged.  If charges are filed, he could be arrested or you could be served a petition to appear in court.

Michael J. Breczinski · Answer

Check with the court to see if there is any warrant for your son. If not then he was released PFI (pending further investigation) That does not stop them from asking for a warrant on your son later. You need an attorney.

Steven D. Dunnings · Answer

Sure. And Miranda rights only pertain to the admissibility of a confession.

Marshall Tauber · Answer

Yes.  It often happens that police provide a felony arrest warrant request from the prosecutors office when felonies are alleged. Depending on the severity of the charge, warrants can take up to six weeks to be issued-sometimes longer.

Craig Elhart · Answer

The only person who can determine if criminal charges are brought is the prosecuting attorney.  Under these circumstances, your son could be charged.  If he is, he should obtain the assistance of a competent criminal defense attorney who can review the matter for possible defenses.

Thomas Tomko · Answer

The short answer is that he of course can still be charged with an offense.  There is no requirement that police charge someone the moment the get done questioning the person.  However, the more time that passes, the more likely that there will not be a charge.  It is common for the police to put their information into a Petition which is forwarded to the prosecutor's office.  This is then reviewed for possible charges.  If there is sufficient evidence and desire to charge, then the Petition will be signed and a proceeding will begin with the Court.  If not, then the matter may be put aside and no proceedings will follow.  Your concern over fingerprints, miranda, pictures are all administrative concerns.  The failure to do these things does not prevent a case.  After all, he could be taken into custody now and all of those things could be done now.  So these concerns, which may or may not have an impact later, do not determine whether or not the prosecutor "can" bring a Petition or criminal charges.

Robert Driessen · Answer

He can always be charged. However it sounds like the police think he may have committed a crime but they are still gathering information. Your son should not make any statements to the police.

Gabriel Dorman · Answer

Yes. The fact that your son wasn't booked (photographed and fingerprinted) at that time doesn't mean that he won't be charged at some point in the future. The police can still be conducting their investigation. Nonetheless, just because your son has not been charged at this point doesn't mean you should just wait. Given that the police are investigating your son, I would suggest you hire an experiences criminal defense attorney to represent your son. Depending on the facts and circumstances involved, the right attorney might be able to avoid charges against your son altogether.

Jeff Yeh · Answer

Of course he can. There is no requirement that someone be taken to the police station, be photographed, or fingerprinted in order to be charged. As long as an investigation is pending, they don't have to do any of that. Hire a lawyer for him before he does something he will regret, such as incriminate himself further.

Timothy Klisz · Answer

Certainly yes. The police are likely investigating what charges, if any, that they are going to present to the prosecutor. This could take a whole.

James Lochead · Answer

Yes, he can be charged with a felony anytime between the date of the offense and the date of the "statute of limitations", which varies, depending on the crime charged excepting murder where there is no statute of limitations.

Stephen Freeborn · Answer

Sure, he could still be charges.  If your son is looking at 2 potential felony charges, depending upon what those charges are, I suspect that the detectives are investigating the matter and putting their case together for referral to the prosecutor for the filing of charges.  Not knowing the facts or what the 2 felonies are, I have no way of telling you how long it might be before charges are filed.

Jared Austin · Answer

Anybody can be charged as long as the statute of limitations have not yet expired on the crime they are being charged with. He would only have to be read his Miranda rights if he was in police custody and was being interrogated or asked potentially incriminating questions. It's determined on a case-by-case basis. Have an experienced criminal attorney review the police reports and case file and make sure your son has good representation. If you have any court dates coming up, the court should notify you.

Jeffrey Pollock · Answer

Yes, until the Statute of Limitations expires.

John Bussman · Answer

Without knowing the details, it's hard to give you definitive answers.  The short answer is yes, your son could still be in a lot of trouble.  Miranda rights are probably irrelevant since your son was not under arrest at the time he made statements.  Technically, he was free to get up and walk out of the interview at any time (Miranda rights are very complicated, and even more so when minors are involved).  It sounds like the case is still under investigation.  Once the police finish their investigation, it will be turned over to the DA for a decision re: whether or not to charge your son with a crime and, if so, which crimes to charge him with (that decision is not made by the police).

Mark R. Thiessen · Answer

Call a bail bondsman and see if he has a warrant.  The police could have just been investigating him, but had the wrong guy.

Eric Sterkenburg · Answer

Depending on how old your son is the prosecution will review the incident report and decide if he will be charged in adult court or in juvenile court. The prosecution can take up to a year to make decision to charge your son. Your son does not have to be taken to the police station, read his Miranda rights, photographed, or fingerprinted by the police for him to be charged with a crime.

Mark Broughton · Answer

Yes, he can. It may well be that the police are continuing to investigate and need more information before charging him. On the other hand, they may have only wanted to talk to your son not as a suspect in any crime, but as a witness. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for the cops to be heavy-handed, especially with juveniles. My guess is, though, that if they had enough evidence they would have arrested your son at the time of his interview; most certainly, at that point they would have had to read him his Miranda rights if they wanted to use his statement against him at trial.  The statute of limitations in most felony cases is three years; for misdemeanors, it's a year. This means that as long as your son is not in custody, they have that long to file charges, if at all. Should the cops come calling again to interview your son, I would suggest getting a lawyer and not having him talk to them without his lawyer being present. At that point, the matter has every indication of becoming more serious and the assistance of a good criminal defense attorney is strongly advised. A lawyer can also help determining the nature of the investigation and whether or not charges are pending.

Joseph Dane · Answer

There is no requirement that a person be arrested in order to charge them with a crime.  Your son is (at the very least) under investigation for felony charges.  It's time to sit down with a criminal defense attorney to discuss the case and whether or not charges are likely or imminent.

Leonard Harden · Answer

Yes he can be charged as a juvenile delinquent.  The juvenile charges will not remain on his record as he becomes an adult.  If he is charged he will likely qualify for a diversion or court appointed attorney.  He should not make any statements to anyone he should remain silent.

James Edward Smith · Answer

The police can develop their case more and charge him I'm the next year.  Being booked and being charged are different things with separate criteria.

Gary Moore · Answer

Yes. There could be a complaint which has been filed and is on it's way to your house.

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Can my son be charged with anything if he was not taken to the police station, photographed or fingerprinted?

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