In re Elijah C.
Annotate this CaseElijah C. signed a document waiving the one-year statute of limitations for petty theft as a condition of entering a diversion program for first-time offenders. The court held that a minor’s purported waiver of the statute of limitations for an offense is not valid, when that waiver was made without consultation with counsel and before a petition against the minor was filed. Although Elijah did not yet have the right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment because no petition had yet been filed, he faced what was in effect a critical stage of the prosecution. Accordingly, the court reversed the juvenile court's order overruling the demurrer.
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