Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 3, March 20, 2024
A. The attorney
should file motions, responses or objections as necessary to zealously
represent the client. The attorney should consider filing an appropriate motion
whenever there exists a good faith reason to believe that the child client is
entitled to relief that the court has discretion to grant. The attorney should
file motions as soon as possible due to the time constraints of juvenile
court.
B. The decision to file
motions should be made after considering the applicable law in light of the
known circumstances of each case.
C. Among the issues that counsel should
consider addressing in a motion include, but are not limited to:
1. the pre-adjudication custody of the child
client;
2. the constitutionality of
the implicated statute or statutes (in which case counsel should be mindful
that the Attorney General must be served with a copy of such a
motion);
3. the constitutionality
of the implicated statute or statutes;
4. the potential defects in the charging
process;
5. the sufficiency of the
charging document;
6. the propriety
and prejudice of any joinder of charges or defendants in the charging
document;
7. the discovery
obligations of the state and the reciprocal discovery obligations of the
defense;
8. the suppression of
evidence gathered as the result of violations of the Fourth, Fifth or Sixth
Amendments to the United States Constitution, state constitutional provisions
or statutes, including:
a. the fruits of
illegal searches or seizures;
b.
involuntary statements or confessions;
c. statements or confessions obtained in
violation of the child client's right to an attorney, or privilege against
self-incrimination; or
d.
unreliable identification evidence that would give rise to a substantial
likelihood of irreparable misidentification.
9. the suppression of evidence gathered in
violation of any right, duty or privilege arising out of state or local
law;
10. in consultation with the
child client, a mental or physical examination of the child client;
11. relief due to mental incapacity,
incompetency, mental retardation or mental illness;
12. access to resources or experts who may be
denied to the child client because of his or her indigence;
13. the child client's right to a speedy
trial;
14. the child client's right
to a continuance in order to adequately prepare his or her case;
15. matters of evidence which may be
appropriately litigated by means of a pre-adjudication motion in
limine;
16. motion for judgment of
dismissal; or
17. matters of
adjudication or courtroom procedures, including inappropriate clothing or
restraints of the client.
18.
matters related to the conditions under which the child client is confined,
including the implementation of a program of education or other services while
in confinement.
D. The
attorney should withdraw a motion or decide not to file a motion only after
careful consideration, and only after determining whether the filing of a
motion may be necessary to protect the child client's rights, including later
claims of waiver or procedural default. The attorney has a continuing duty to
file motions as new issues arise or new evidence is discovered.
