Just thought I would throw this out there for others to ponder over a bit.
If the person in custody is tried as an adult, they are considered emancipated by the courts (meaning they are considered an adult in the sense of making their own decisions - they still are held to legal guidelines when it comes to underage laws such as alcohol, tobacco, and voting). But in every sense of the word, they are completely responsible for their own actions and decisions.
If the person in custody is tried as a juvenile, they are still under the authority of their legal guardian. That means the guardian (or parent) is responsible for that child. In this case, that sets up a wrongful death suit scenario against the parents/guardian of the accused (even if the death was an accident).
Wrongful death suits have more relaxed guidelines and in fact, you do not have to have a murder conviction to win a wrongful death suit (ie: OJ Simpson). In a criminal case, a jury must decide guilt within a shadow of a doubt. In a civil case, they must decide at least 80% probability of the guilt.
If the accused is tried as a juvenile, a wrongful death suit could be brought up against the parents/guardian of said juvenile. The courts would have to decide parental culpability in the case. As parents, we are responsible for the actions of our children. If our child throws a rock at someone's car causing an accident, parents are held accountable for damages done.
I'm not saying this would happen, I am saying it could happen and it's something to think about. What would you do if you were the parent of the victim?
