alright so a few monthes ago my 16 year old brother got arrested around 4am. He was in a car with his friend who had weed and a pipe. my brother had a piece on him too. anyway my parents woke me up when they got the call from the cops and they said that they're only charging him with violation of curfew. no citations or anything. he got a letter in the mail saying he has to make an appearance in court in a few weeks. ive never been arrested but im pretty sure when you "make an appearance" your supposed to tell about what happend and stuff. so my question is even though he isnt charged with the paraphenelia is he supposed to tell the judge exactly what happend? im scared that he'll go in there and be like "yea i was with this kid who had weed and a piece" and then get fucked over or something.
5th amendment "...nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself..." he can't be compelled to say anything about himself that is incriminating in a court of law, just make sure he knows that.
Is there anyway to get legal representation? The trouble is, he may *want* to witness against himself if it's part of a deal to reduce his charge. For example, if he's being cited for possession, he should probably not say anything. However, if admitting to being out after curfew (i.e. pleading guilty to a curfew violation) means that all the other possible charges will be dropped, then he should openly admit to the judge that he was out after curfew (and only admit to that!). Another possibility, if it was just a citation, is that he's going to be allowed to speak, but not to contest the citation just to mitigate the repercussions. In some states and municipalities, some citations cannot be challenged, once they're handed out that's it. If that is the case, a court appearance will be for the judge to ask "Did you have a good reason to be out after curfew?" and "Do you know why what you did was wrong?" in order to determine the extent of the punishment. If this is the case, it's also best for him to be honest as honesty usually leads to reduced punishment. Without knowing the local laws, it's impossible to know for certain, but as stated above there are some cases where he should admit what he did, and others where he shouldn't. If you can get legal representation, you'll know for certain which this is.
Get a lawyer,dont talk to the judge.He should be fine,I just went to court a few days ago,nothin much to it.