youthful offenders answers and questions

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Thursday, Mar 31, 2016

If a offender on youthful offenders probation win trial or criminal charges are dismiss does he or she still face the maximum sentence and a Probation hearing.

Answers

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Apr 01, 2016
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It seems as though your question is; If a person is serving a "youthful offender" sentence, when they are on the supervisory aspect of that sentence. and they get arrested for a new offense while they are on that supervision, and then that new case results in either an acquittal or dismissal, can that person, nonetheless, still be violated ? The answer is ...yes...they still can be violated. This all has to do with varying "standards of proof"... meaning how much does the prosecution need to prove. For a trial, the prosecution needs to prove their case "beyond a reasonable doubt". Consequently, an acquittal doesn't necessarily mean that the accused was innocent, just that the case couldn't be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. A case can be dismissed because evidence is suppressed , a due process violation occurs, there is a failure to locate a witness or numerous other reasons. Once again , a dismissal doesn't necessarily mean that the accused was innocent. To violate a person's supervision, the standard of proof is very low with the level of evidence only having "to shock the conscience of the court". That is a dramatically much lower standard of proof then "beyond a reasonable doubt" If a judge believes that there is enough evidence to shock the conscience of the court, even though that is much less than establishing proof beyond a reasonable doubt, then a person can be violated even though they received a [seemingly' victorious result on that new arrest. Now, if a new arrest results in an acquittal or dismissal , that is definitely a good thing and will place that person in a more favorable position than if they were found guilty, yet, it is not an automatic free pass on the violation of supervision. A good defense lawyer will be able to accurately sense if a violation will occur even if there is an acquittal or dismissal of that new case. This issue absolutely necessitates a defense lawyer having a good relationship with all parties in order to be able to sense how much or little the court will require for a violation and the chances of an exoneration.