Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A.
The lawyer's responsibility to the child client does not end with the entry of
a final dispositional order. Louisiana law entitles juveniles to representation
at every stage of the proceeding, including post-disposition matters. The
attorney should be prepared to counsel and render or assist in securing
appropriate legal services for the child client in matters arising from the
original proceeding.
B. The lawyer
should conduct post-dispositional proceedings according to the principles
generally governing representation in juvenile court matters. The attorney
should be prepared to actively participate in hearings regarding probation
status or conditions, conditions of confinement, and post-dispositional
services. When a child client is committed to a program and the attorney
receives notice of an Office of Juvenile Justice transfer staffing or decision,
the attorney should review and challenge the decision and, if appropriate,
bring the matter to the trial court.
C. The lawyer should monitor the child
client's progress in secure care and when appropriate file necessary motions
for modification of disposition on behalf of the child client.
D. In providing representation with respect
to post-dispositional proceedings, the attorney should do the following:
1. Contact both the child client and the
agency or institution involved in the disposition plan at regular intervals in
order to ensure that the child client's rights are respected and, where
necessary, to counsel the child client and the child client's family concerning
the dispositional plan. The attorney should actively seek court intervention
when the child client is subjected to inappropriate treatment or conditions or
when the child client's rights are violated.
2. Prepare for hearings, whether the review
is sought by the child client or is a review hearing provided by law, by
conducting an appropriate investigation including the following:
a. request and review documents from the
child client's probation file or Office of Juvenile Justice file;
b. interview the child client and the child
client's collateral contacts, including the adult or adults who are expected to
assume custody of the child client when the child client is released from
custody or supervision, or to provide re-entry support if the child client has
reached the age of majority while in custody;
c. In consultation with the child client and
available social services or other appropriate professionals, decide an
appropriate plan for post-dispositional proceedings, including:
i. Whether to request a modification of
disposition, including termination of probation, release from state custody or
step-down to non-secure custody;
ii. Whether to request a modification of
conditions of confinement or a modification of conditions of probation;
and
d. Attempt to
determine, unless there is a sound tactical reason for not doing so, the
prosecution's position with respect to the hearing and attempt to persuade the
district attorney to support the child client's position with respect to the
hearing.
3. Conduct any
post-dispositional hearings according to the principles generally governing
representation in juvenile court matters including the following:
a. Develop, in consultation with the child
client, a theory of the hearing and a plan for presenting and advancing the
theory, including the presentment of friendly witnesses and
documentation;
b. Request a
contradictory hearing when necessary to establish disputed facts, develop
evidence, or assert the child client's rights;
c. In a contradictory hearing, examine fully
and, where possible, impeach any witness whose evidence is damaging to the
child client's interests and to challenge the accuracy, credibility, and weight
of any reports, written statements, or other evidence before the court. The
lawyer should not knowingly limit or forego examination or contradiction by
proof of any witness, including a social worker or probation department
officer, when failure to examine fully will prejudice the child client's
interests. Counsel should seek to compel the presence of witnesses whose
statements of fact or opinion are before the court or the production of other
evidence on which conclusions of fact presented at disposition are based.
d. Present supporting evidence,
including testimony of witnesses, to establish the facts favorable to the child
client.
e. Advocate for the child
client's interests in argument, whether in summary hearing or contradictory
hearing.
E.
Where the lawyer is aware that the child client or the child client's family
needs and desires community or other medical, psychiatric, psychological,
social or legal services, he or she may render assistance in arranging for such
services.
F. Even after an
attorney's representation in a case is complete, the attorney should comply
with a child client's reasonable requests for information and
materials.
