Estudiante

It has been found that youths younger than 13 are lacking many of the abilities that older adolescent and adult defendants possess; namely a familiarity with court proceedings, a robustunderstanding of rights, a comprehension that defense attorneys are on the side of the defendant, and an ability to communicate effectively with counsel.[12]
A 2003 study by Grisso et al.[13] suggested thatamong a sample of 1,393 community youths (ages 11-17) and young adults (ages 18-24) and detained youth and young adults, that those aged 15 and younger are unable to perform as well as older adolescentand young adults as trial defendants. It was found in this study that
approximately one third of 11 to 13 year olds and approximately one fifth of 14 to 15 year olds are as impaired in capacitiesrelevant to adjudicative competence as are seriously mentally ill adults who would likely be considered incompetent to stand trial.
A study that looked exclusively at juveniles aged 16-17 years-oldwho were directly filed to criminal court (i.e. transferred by prosecutorial discretion) found no significant differences in competence between these youth and older criminal defendants.[14]
Regardingjuveniles' knowledge about criminal court, it has been found that most adolescent offenders are ignorant of the transfer laws that may force them to be tried and sentenced as an adult, and it issuggested that a previous knowledge of these laws might have deterred them from committing their crime.[15]
It has been shown that most mid-to-late adolescents are close to adults in cognitiveabilities; however, they are less likely to use their abilities because of several reasons. First, juveniles have less experience in life. They are less likely to perceive risks and less likely tocontemplate how present actions might affect their future situations.[16][17] The teenage environment also poses several risks to vulnerable individuals. These at-risk adolescents are more often subjected to...