Court Rules That Police Can Refuse Minor’s Request To Speak To Parents Before Questioning Him/Her About A Crime

In yet another blow for the rights of minors accused of crimes in California, a recent court of appeals decision has held that the police can ignore a minor’s request to speak to his parents before he is required to provide the police with a statement. The court further ruled that asking to speak to your parent before making a statement is not the same as asking to speak to a lawyer.

What this means is that a statement made by a minor to the police will be admissible in court even if he/she had begged to speak to his/her parent before speaking to the police. This ruling is a direct assault on parents’ rights to be there for their children during what could be one of the most critical times of their lives. More importantly, this ruling will lead to many “false confessions and admissions” by minors who are terrified by the police and will say whatever the cops want them to say to let them see their parents.

How many 15 year olds, who are accused of a crime, would have the knowledge to realize that they should ask to speak to a lawyer before speaking to the police? How many teenagers can possibly understand the legal “Miranda warnings” that police are required to provide? Not too many is the correct answer.

When a minor is in trouble, he doesn’t want to speak to the police. It is the “logical” thing for the minor to request to speak to his parents before he makes a decision to whether he wishes to speak to the police.

However, it didn’t matter to the Court of Appeals that this is what is “logical”. The court ruled that the cops can question a minor for hours on end, even if he has asked to speak to his parents numerous times. This means that anything the minor says can be used against him in court.

There recently have been attempts by the California legislature to make it a law that the police must permit a minor who they take into custody to speak to their parents within a reasonable period of time. This law was passed by both houses of the California legislature. However, Governor Brown shockingly vetoed the new law.

If you care about your children and if you care about protecting your children from police abuse, you need to contact your elected officials and urge them to introduce this law again.

The juvenile crime lawyers at Wallin & Klarich has over 40 years of experience defending minors accused of criminal matters in Orange County. Please call our Orange County juvenile defense attorneys at Wallin & Klarich at 888-749-0034 if you or your child is facing juvenile crime charges in Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles or Ventura Counties.