CHIEF OF JUVENILE JUSTICE BUREAU PROVIDES INSIGHT INTO CARJACKING CASES

Photo provided by Tandra Simonton/ Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office
Photo provided by Tandra Simonton/ Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office

 Chief of Juvenile Justice Bureau provides insight into carjacking cases

BY TIA CAROL JONES

    With the recent rash of vehicular hijackings, Maryam Ahmad, chief of the Juvenile Justice Bureau in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, is providing some insight into what goes into the prosecution of juveniles in vehicular hijacking cases.
     Ahmad said in Juvenile court, the process is similar to what happens in adult court and authorities work with each police department in Cook County. “We can only prosecute cases that are actually brought to us, so the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office - first and foremost- relies on the police department to bring us cases,” she said.
     Ahmad said in Juvenile Court, the only difference is the cases that are brought by the police, and the cases that are brought to the adult division
by the police, is the age of the offender and the sentence outcome. “In terms of
the charges and in terms of the burden of proof, it’s exactly the same as adult court,” she said.
     Ahmad said a prosecutor must determine if there is probable cause
for the arrest – if the person arrested is indeed the person who committed the
crime -- and sufficient cause for each element of that offense, by the same of
standard, probable cause. Then, when the prosecutor is reviewing the case that is brought by the police, they are determining whether or not there is proof
beyond a reasonable doubt. Ahmad compared the process to an Olympic
relay race.
     “Just like in a race, you have the handoff between the team members of
a baton. The first handoff is between the State’s Attorney and the police, when
the police bring us the case, it’s like them handing us the baton,” she said. “We make sure we have it, meaning, we make sure we have probable cause and
proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”
     Ahmad said the next leg is the conveying, by the prosecutor, of that
offender and the charges, before the court. She said in terms of charges, it is
the same criminal code that is used in adult court, with the same exact criteria
as in adult court. According to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, in 2020 in Chicago, 76 adult vehicular hijacking cases were reviewed by the Felony Review Unit, 74 cases were approved – a 97 percent approval rate. Thirty-eight of those cases were prosecuted and 34 convicted, an 89 percent conviction rate.
    Also in 2020 in Chicago, 87 juvenile vehicular hijacking cases were screened by the Juvenile Delinquency Unit Assistant State’s Attorneys, 77 cases were approved. Twenty-one of those cases reached disposition and 19 adjudicated delinquents, a 90 percent adjudication rate.
     Once a juvenile is brought to court and the State’s Attorney’s Office makes
those charges on a vehicular hijacking, that State’s Attorney reads a proffer,
a state of facts of what occurred to the judge and what they believe the
evidence will show. Ahmad said the judge is making a determination as to
whether or not there is probable cause.
     “In Juvenile Court, when the judge makes that finding of probable cause,
the second step in the analyses is whether there’s urgent and immediate
necessity,” she said.
      With immediate necessity, if the person is charged with a violent offense,
Ahmad said it is whether that person is a danger to the community or to
themselves or if the person is in danger due to nature of the offense the person
has committed. If one of those elements exist, the judge will order a hold in custody because in Juvenile Court, there is no monetary bond hearing.
    “The judge, he or she, finds urgent and immediate necessity, will either
order a hold in custody, the continued detention of that offender, or the judge
can order that defender be released with some sort of pre-trial conditions, such as electronic home monitoring… or a judge can order a curfew, or no conditions at all,” she said. “In most carjacking cases, those judges are ordering detention, because of the serious and violent nature of the offense.”
    Ahmad said while the Juvenile Justice Bureau’s process relies on the police,
it also relies on community members speaking up and providing information
to the police. She added, when you see a child “who you know can’t afford a car” and who has no means to buy a car, but who is posting multiple photos of
luxury vehicles in which he or she is the driver or who’s posting large amounts
of cash and bragging about committing these offenses, authorities need community members to speak up and provide information to the police.

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