Skip to main content
CRM 1-499

58. Step 6—Take the Necessary Steps to Advance Your Juvenile Case

At this point, you are ready to proceed in the order most appropriate to your situation. The next steps include:

  1. Obtaining the United States Attorney's signature on the required certification. See JM 9-8.110.

  2. If you decide to prosecute the juvenile as an adult, requesting authority to move to transfer the juvenile to adult status. The Attorney General delegated the authority to approve these transfer motions to the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division in an order reprinted at 28 C.F.R. 0.57. That authority has been redelegated to the United States Attorneys by memo of the Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division dated 7/20/95, although the Criminal Division should be notified prior to the filing of any transfer motion. Accord, JM Blue Sheet amending 9-2.134 dated 6/19/95 (amending various subsections of 9.2.000).

    Thus, unless transfer of a juvenile to adult status is mandatory under § 5032, you must obtain authorization to file a transfer motion. Your request for authorization should include information concerning the juvenile's prior history, the nature of his or her involvement in the offense, and when a response is needed.

  3. Preparing and filing sealed court papers, including juvenile complaint, arrest warrant, information, and motion papers, if the filing of the motion to transfer is authorized.

  4. Negotiating an appropriate plea disposition, preferably before the court expends time on a transfer motion.

    Remember to provide notice separately to the juvenile's parent of any subpoena, request for an interview, arrest, and initial hearing date. If a parent cannot be located or the parent's interest is adverse, you should ask for appointment of a guardian ad litem under 18 U.S.C. § 5034. If the juvenile seeks to waive the presence of a parent or guardian at a time when he or she is not represented by counsel, you may wish to obtain temporary adult counsel to avoid any subsequent litigation of the juvenile's competence to waive his parent's presence. You also may wish to document on tape any subsequent statements of the juvenile in order to support a finding that the statements were both knowing and voluntary.

[cited in Criminal Resource Manual 48]