La. Admin. Code tit. 22 § XV-1521

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024

Section XV-1521 - Post-Disposition Representation

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.

La. Admin. Code tit. 22, § XV-1521

Promulgated by the Office of the Governor, Public Defender Board, LR 37:2614 (September 2011), Amended LR 45417 (3/1/2019).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 15:148