The Florida Youthful Offender Act Is for Young Adults, Too

If you are in your mid-twenties or older, there are probably incidents from your youth that you are embarrassed even to think about, and there are probably also incidents that you are relieved did not lead to worse consequences than the ones that occurred. The attributes of youth do not instantly disappear as soon as you reach the age of legal majority. You were almost as awkward and as hubristic on the day you registered to vote as you were the day you attended the one-day class you must take as a prerequisite for getting a restricted license. The criminal justice system accounts for the maturity level of people accused of crimes. The state can charge minors as adults if the crime is serious enough, or if the defendant has committed enough similar offenses that prosecutors can be sure that the present accusations are not a fluke. What happens, though, if you end up with charges that could land you in prison, but if you had been arrested for the same actions when you were only a few months younger, the worst-case scenario would have been juvenile detention? If your adult life has just begun, and you are facing criminal charges, contact a Tampa criminal defense lawyer.

If You’re Too Young to Buy Alcohol, You’re Too Young to Spend Decades Behind Bars

Florida first enacted its Youthful Offender Act in 1978. It provides for lesser penalties for young adults who plead guilty to crimes, enabling the courts to account for the defendant’s age as a factor in sentencing. A few years ago, the law underwent some amendments. Under the current version of the law, defendants and their criminal defense lawyers can invoke the Youthful Offender Act as long as the defendant was younger than 21 at the time of the arrest, even if the defendant has turned 21 during the pendency of the case. The longest sentence a defendant sentenced under the Youthful Offender Act can receive is six years; the sentence can include any combination of jail time, community supervision, and probation. Defendants sentenced as youthful offenders serve the incarceration portion of their sentences in county jail rather than in state prison.

The youthful offender sentencing guidelines can still apply even for some crimes serious enough that they can carry a sentence of more than six years in prison. For example, a college student who was charged with DUI manslaughter at age 20 received a six-year sentence in which he served three years in jail and is currently serving his probation. The defendant already had previous DUIs on his record; if he were older, he would have received a harsher sentence.

Contact Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Bryant Scriven

A criminal defense lawyer can help you get justice if you are facing criminal charges that could carry a long prison sentence, but you have only recently reached adulthood.  Contact Scriven Law in Tampa, Florida to schedule a consultation.

Source:

wuft.org/public-safety/2020-12-23/ahead-of-christmas-a-3-year-prison-sentence-in-fatal-drunken-driving-crash