Q: Hello, This past Memorial day my 16 yr old son was in an altercation and was charged with battery and attempted theft.
He was walking home with three other friends in the evening, when they came across my neighbor's son he is a couple of years older than my son, he was also with some friends. One of my son's friends knew our neighbor's son or was friends with him when they were in school together, the point is that they shook hands said some pleasantries and moved on. Once my son and his friends were some steps away from them, either my neighbors son or one of his friends said something derogatory and my son and his friends, they went back to confront them about it. At one point he asked him how much was the bike he was holding and told him it was nice and asked if it was expensive, my neighbor's son responded immediately " yes! it was $575.00 why? do you want to take it? and immediately pulled out a blade on my son, my son swung at him and then the other swung at him too and left. No one took the bike but the parents pressed charges. My son was arrested and now has a court date, do we need a lawyer?
A: A juvenile is require to have a lawyer. If you cannot afford one then one of the first court date the judge will likely have you fill out a financial affidavit and will assign a public defender if you are indigent
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