Any allegation of participating in criminal activity is a serious matter. Sadly, many people who face accusations of criminal activity are young adults or teenagers. After being accused of an offense, a child or young adult might worry about how this will impact the rest of their life. They might fear the consequences, what their family and friends will think, and whether they will have less opportunities to succeed. Even if these are not the teen or young adult’s concerns, many parents or loved ones have these concerns for them.
Our team members also understand your situation as an accused teen or young adult as well as the long-term implications that this can carry in your life. We focus on identifying your concerns, as well as concerns you make not consider, to develop a strategy with you that will be focused on your concerns. A Cherokee County criminal defense lawyer could provide more information about your options, assess the charges against you, and help you protect your future.
I made a lot of poor choices when I was younger. While I probably had more run-ins with the police and other authority figures between the ages of 13 and 22 than many people have throughout their lives, I was fortunate that I was never charged with anything more than minor traffic offenses. In hindsight, I see how my life could have been derailed if things had gone a little differently for me. My mission is to protect the futures of our younger generation from their mistakes so that they can achieve their full potential.
We focus our practice exclusively on criminal, juvenile, and school discipline defense. Most of our clients are juveniles and young adults who have been accused of:
Those accused of crimes under the age of 17 are generally charged in Juvenile Court, while those 17 and older are charged in adult criminal courts. Teenagers have the same obligation as adults to comply with the state’s criminal code. Because of this, police officers can charge teenagers who they believe have committed a criminal or delinquent act, and the individual’s age and charges determine whether the case begins in juvenile court or one of the multiple adult criminal courts.
Some alleged criminal acts are more common among young adults or teens, such as underage drinking, traffic violations, DUI, illegal drug possession, shoplifting, theft, property damage, or fighting related offenses, such as assault or battery. Depending on the nature of the charges and the court the case is heard, the accused might face an impacted criminal record or need to spend time in an adult or juvenile detention facility. This could be emotionally damaging and stressful for an entire family.
Fortunately, our Cherokee County attorneys understand the legal nuances of fighting these various offenses and could work hard to find the best criminal defense strategy for each client’s circumstances.
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If you are convicted of a crime, no matter how small, it can severely impact your ability to get a job or attend your college of choice. Our team’s goal is to minimize or eradicate your criminal charges so that you can achieve your life goals without a criminal record hanging over your head.
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While almost all of our clients are more concerned about the potential long-term impacts a criminal or juvenile case might have on them or their loved ones, they may choose to have our team take different approaches. Typically, our clients look for our team to take one of two approaches:
In either approach, our team will take the time to listen and learn:
With these things in mind, we will work with our clients to develop recommendations for them to complete to help with their case whether they are facing misdemeanor or felony level charges.
Sometimes our clients select the approach of looking for ways to fight the case because they want to fight it, while others pursue this route because they want to leverage any potential issues to try to achieve a better negotiated outcome.
How these approaches are applied will vary depending on each individual client, their goals, their charges, and whether their case is in Juvenile Court or Adult Court.
For those who are 16 and younger, facing charges in Juvenile Court, there may be less concern about the long-term impacts a case might have from a record standpoint, but greater concerns about the personal impacts the case can have on the youth, the fairness of any potential outcomes, and ensuring they are setup for success through the outcome.
These is more at stake with teenagers and young adults who are 17 or older, since the state of Georgia treats them as adults, prosecutes them in adult criminal court, and leaves them open to the long-term impacts of a criminal conviction on their record for life. Our team of dedicated defense attorneys in Cherokee County cannot just to help a young person understand the case being built against them or look at ways to fight the allegations. We also to look at and explore how different resolutions can impact someone’s criminal history.
Bringing all of this together, our team can present all the options to our clients and their families to help them make the best decisions on how to proceed for themselves.
Our ultimate goal is seeing you improve as a person and achieving your true potential. And achieving that starts by mitigating your charges and minimizing any penalties.
If your teen or young adult was accused of engaging in a criminal act, remember that you have options for protecting their future and minimizing the impact of the case. When your case involves theft, drug possession, or any number of other crimes, one of our compassionate Cherokee County criminal defense lawyers could fight to protect your child’s rights during these challenging times.
Additionally, depending on the circumstances of a case, you might be able to pursue an alternative to criminal prosecution. You or your loved one deserves a second opportunity to keep their life on track, and our firm is here to help you assess your options. Call us today to schedule a defense strategy meeting.
Ghanouni Teen & Young Adult Defense Firm
N/a Ghanouni Teen & Young Adult Defense Firm
