TL;DR

Richard S. Sterger, founding attorney of Sterger Law Group, says a minor should never speak to police, prosecutors, or the DMV without an attorney, because there is a reason the Sixth Amendment guarantees a right to counsel and officers are trained to walk people into traps. He also explains that families who cannot afford private counsel in an underage DUI case will still be represented: a public defender is assigned on the first court day in adult criminal court, and juveniles are assigned one as well.

• Asked whether a minor should speak to police, prosecutors, or the DMV without an attorney, Richard S. Sterger's answer is "never," pointing to the Sixth Amendment right to counsel.
• Most people do not know where they stand when law enforcement asks them questions, and they are dealing with trained professionals. Sterger says an overshare can lead to an overcharge.
• Sterger stresses this is not a criticism of officers: their job is to gather evidence for the district attorney, and an officer seeking all the information they can is doing that job.
• A party and drinking scenario can prompt law enforcement and the district attorney's office to push harder, especially after an accident or injury, and even the neighborhood can affect how a juvenile case is pursued.
• Every young adult and juvenile in an underage DUI case will have a lawyer. A public defender is assigned on the first court day in adult criminal court, and juveniles are assigned one as well.
• In juvenile cases, Sterger's office works to bring charges down to a misdemeanor and asks both the judge and the DAs to consider diversion.

Does drinking at a party make a teen DUI case worse?

Richard S. Sterger: One of my worst cases was a young adult who had just graduated, was at a graduation party, ended up in an accident, and somebody died. The whole partying and drinking thing is going to trigger a certain reaction from the district attorney's office and from law enforcement oftentimes. It's probably more likely that they're going to push a little bit harder, particularly if something like a car accident happened or somebody was injured.

A lot of times, these are different because there'll be more kids in the car. In the situations I've encountered where it's kids leaving a party, they're not just endangering themselves or other motorists on the road. They actually have other people in the car with them. There are so many of these cases where you have the rollover car accident, and the driver walks away, and then two or three of the other people in the car may not.

The party doesn't change anything, but I do think going to a party with this kind of intention to drink, with the car there, knowing you're going to leave, creates something different. At the end of the day, criminally, it's no different. But contextually, which certainly does matter, it could be different. Context really matters in the juvenile setting. Oftentimes, it can matter where that party was. Even a neighborhood could change how you're being treated by the police and how the matter is pursued by the district attorney's office in juvenile proceedings. That's unfortunate, but it's true.

Why do prosecutor decisions vary in a youth DUI case?

Richard S. Sterger: We are dealing with people. While there are objective criteria, there is always a subjective element. DAs are people who are making decisions, and they're parents and they're coaches. Oftentimes, they have both sides. They may have a lot of compassion towards this, or they may have seen something happen to one of their kid's friends. People are involved in this, and there are a number of decisions that have to be made. And all of the idiosyncrasies of being human get brought into the subjective decision.

Should a minor talk to police or the DMV without a lawyer?

Richard S. Sterger: Never. The short answer is there's a reason we have a Sixth Amendment right to counsel.

Just in what we've talked about, the complexities of your situation, the reality is that most people don't have any idea where they actually stand in relation to law enforcement when they're asking them questions.

They don't really get what's going on and the potential traps that they could fall into. And they're dealing with somebody who is a trained professional at walking you right into these traps.

The imbalance of information, the lack of experience in dealing with these situations: that's what we bring to it. There's been more than one time that we have saved somebody from locking themselves into a very severe charge by being that middle person who controls the release of information, or how information is provided, so that there's not an overshare which could create an overcharge.

By us being in there, we oftentimes can manage the information that is shared. It doesn't mean that we don't ever cooperate with the police. We rarely cooperate with the police, but there are times. I have a case where we disclosed the whereabouts of a vehicle that was suspected in a hit and run. We represented somebody who was a person of interest, and we worked with the police to help them find the vehicle that was believed to have been a part of the incident that gave rise to this very serious charge, but we were able to negotiate what information we shared. Now we're able to manage the case a little bit better, and the case actually gets charged in a way that is commensurate to what the actual conduct was.

One of the things that people miss is that this isn't an aspersion on police officers. Their job is to investigate crimes and gather evidence that they can hand over to the district attorneys to prosecute that crime. The more evidence they get, the better the chances that the DA can do their job. So a police officer trying to get all the information they can is a police officer doing their job.

Will my child get a public defender after a DUI arrest?

Richard S. Sterger: As self-serving as this sounds, get a lawyer. Get somebody who knows the system. Get somebody who knows which levers to pull so we can get the best outcome.

The good thing for everybody to know is that you're going to have a lawyer. Whether you're a juvenile or a young adult, you're going to have a lawyer. If you're in the criminal system, you'll have a public defender assigned to you when you go to court that first day. And if you're a juvenile, you'll have a public defender assigned to you as well. So if you're a parent and you're hearing this and saying, I just don't have the resources for a private attorney, know that your child will be represented. That's the first thing I have to say.

I have a lot of respect, deep respect, for public defenders. They are in the trenches every single day. They know the people they're dealing with. But they deal with a caseload that is much larger than the caseload I have to deal with.

How can a lawyer help protect my child's future?

Richard S. Sterger: Particularly in the juvenile context, my office is set up with mostly parents who understand what you're going through. We may not know specifically, but we understand where your concerns are coming from. And we definitely dedicate time to answering your questions. That first week is going to be like drinking from a fire hose. You're going to have emotions and obsessive thoughts and all of these things, and an attorney is going to be able to walk you through it.

Then when you get into the process, we're going to be able to pull the levers to move your child through it as quickly as possible. A lot of what we do in the juvenile context is challenging the nature of the charge and getting the charge brought down to a misdemeanor. We work with the judge to seek diversion. We work with the DAs to seek diversion. We really work to pull every single lever that we possibly can.

Particularly when we're talking about juveniles under the age of 18, when you're dealing with a misdemeanor, it's going to be sealed. What they go through in the process of getting to that sealing can differ greatly, and we can assist with that.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should my teenager answer police questions after a DUI stop without a lawyer?

Richard S. Sterger's answer is never, citing the Sixth Amendment right to counsel. He explains that most people do not know where they stand when law enforcement questions them, and that officers are trained professionals whose job is to gather evidence for the district attorney.

Does having a lawyer mean refusing to cooperate with police at all?

Not always. Sterger says his office rarely cooperates with police but sometimes does. In one hit and run case, the firm helped police find a suspected vehicle while negotiating what information was shared, and the case was charged in a way that matched the actual conduct.

What if we cannot afford a private attorney for our child's DUI case?

Your child will still be represented. Sterger explains that young adults in criminal court are assigned a public defender on the first court day, and juveniles are assigned one as well. He describes having deep respect for public defenders, while noting they carry much larger caseloads.

Does it matter that my teen was drinking at a party before the DUI stop?

Sterger says that criminally it is no different, but the context can matter. A party scenario can prompt law enforcement and the district attorney to push harder, especially after an accident, and even the neighborhood can affect how a juvenile matter is pursued.

What can a lawyer do in a juvenile DUI case?

According to Sterger, his office challenges the nature of the charge, works to bring it down to a misdemeanor, and seeks diversion with both the judge and the DAs. He adds that a juvenile misdemeanor is going to be sealed, but the process of getting there can differ greatly.

Edited for length and clarity from a recorded conversation with Richard S. Sterger.