Fort Lauderdale Criminal Mischief Defense Attorney
Lawyer for Criminal Mischief Charges in FL
If your child has been charged with "criminal mischief," you most likely will think that they need to be taught a lesson and punished for their acts. You may consider letting them take the full punishment for their behavior to ensure they will not misbehave like this again. As an experienced Fort Lauderdale criminal mischief defense attorney, I can understand and appreciate this thought process. I can also assure you, it’s not a good idea.
Yes. Your son or daughter may need to be taught a lesson, but being charged with criminal mischief is not the solution. A conviction will stay on a child's criminal record and may interfere with their future college, scholarship, employment and housing opportunities. Additionally, you may get stuck paying their fines. If you want your child to repay you for this fine, she may have a hard time earning money because getting to work will be difficult after her license is revoked. As you can see, a criminal conviction can affect your son or daughter in far more ways than you may have considered. I highly recommend punishing your child on your own, while protecting his or her future by hiring a skilled Fort Lauderdale criminal mischief lawyer like myself.
Sometimes the best thing to do in these situations is to speak with the property owner and offer to repair the damage and pay for the inconvenience caused. You should ask that in return, he or she not press charges against your child. You may need the help of a Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney to help you negotiate this option with the person involved. If so, I can help.
The act of criminal mischief is defined as the intentional damage of another person's property. This charge includes any acts of graffiti or vandalism. Based on the value of the damage, the crime may be a misdemeanor or a felony. If more than $1,000 worth of damage has occurred or if the destruction took place at a place of worship, the charge will be a felony. Misdemeanor criminal mischief charges can result in up to one year in jail and a fine of $1,000. Felony charges can be punished with up to 5 years in prison and a fine. Convicts may be required to do up to 100 hours of community service. Repeat offenders will face even stricter sentencing.
When a minor is charged with the act, he or she may face a driver’s license revocation for up to one year, be charged with delinquency and be sentenced to additional community service. The license revocation may be shortened by doing extra community service, at a rate of one day of license revocation removed for one hour of community service performed.
As you can see, these sentences are nothing to be taken lightly. If you or your child is facing criminal mischief charges, contact a Fort Lauderdale criminal mischief lawyer. The Stella Law Firm offers top criminal defense in Fort Lauderdale and its surrounding areas. If you have any questions or would like to schedule your free initial consultation, call our offices today.