Police Notifying Possible Minor of Parent's Arrest & questioning

Lena Hillbrand said:

Hi, I'm needing a little advice on a scene in my novel.

It takes place in Texas. Possibly relevant as juvenile law is so state-specific. The girl in question is 17, which is considered an adult in Texas for most purposes.

The girl in the novel is at school when her mother is arrested on a drug charge. Protag's getting off the school bus when she sees the police leaving with her mother. Instead of going home, she gets a ride with a friend to her sister's house (a couple hours away) and stays for the weekend. She goes back to school on Monday & work after school. Depends upon how many grownups know about the situation. It's completely possible for this to last until she turns 18 as long as she's got enough funds.


questions:
1. During this time, would the police be trying to contact her? Is it possible they would contact her at school or work on Monday if they hadn't reached her over the weekend?

Her mother would be given phone calls and it's mom's problem, not the police. This really depends upon the police department. Some I know of wouldn't worry about it, others would.

2. Since she lived with her mother, I'm assuming they would want to question her. Would they need a child advocate with them (I'm thinking no, since she's 17, but that still seems so young to me, that I want to make sure).

Why would the police want to talk to her? What could she tell them that they need for their case? No child advocate would be involved.

Since it sounds like they arrested mom at home, they did it on an arrest warrant. They probably also have a search warrant. And I'm assuming this isn't the typical druggie household, but just mom and daughter together. The way this case is most likely to go is that mom accepts a plea. And mom probably talked to the police.

3. If they have no evidence to make them suspect the daughter had any knowledge of the mother's activities, would they go pretty easy on the questioning, since she's still young, it's her mom, etc? Or would they be pretty tough?

If they have no evidence, why are they questioning her? How they approach this depends upon the police officers involved.

4. Would she be forced to testify at the trial if she had no knowledge of what was going on?

What would she testify to? Her testimony would have to be relevant to the charges that her mother is being tried on.

Okay, I think that's all for now, though I'm sure I'll find more questions once I get some answers back!

Thanks in advance for any advice!

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