Authorities have indicated that they expect all three juvenile defendants to be charged as adults.

A majority of the juvenile defendants were African American (62%).

The defense argued that questioning the juvenile defendants in a police station house was coercive.

Virginia law requires that juvenile defendants be given a guardian if their parents are not available to help them in court.

The shabby treatment of juvenile defendants has been ignored for too long.

Under the old state law, only juvenile defendants 16 or older could be sent to adult court to stand trial.

Another section of the law specified that the investigating probation officer should collect detailed information about the juvenile defendant.

She noted the practice of sending many juvenile criminal defendants to adult courts.

Their concerns about the treatment of juvenile defendants in the criminal justice system are well founded.

Criminal proceedings against juvenile defendants and all related court records, even the outcomes of cases, are usually kept confidential.