Can an adult be tried as a juvenile under the Juvenile Rights Act?

Such an interpretation of the statute avoids constitutional difficulties, for it is hornbook law that when an adult is tried in a manner that deprives him of unconstitutional guarantees, his conviction must be reversed. Since an adult has a constitutional right to trial by jury and a juvenile does not (McKeiver v. Pennsylvania, 403 U.S. 528, 91 S.Ct. 1976, 29 L.Ed.2d 647), the conclusion seems inescapable that an adult petitioner may not be tried as a juvenile over his objection. The legislature has no power to deprive an adult of basic rights and protections he may intelligently wish to exercise, nor do we believe it ever intended

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