As amended through January 31, 2024
Rule 30 - Contested Adjudicatory Hearing(a)Initial Procedure. At the beginning of the adjudicatory hearing, if the court has not previously determined the following information at a pre-adjudicatory conference, the court shall:(1) verify the full name, age, and residence of the juvenile who is the subject of the matter;(2) determine whether all necessary persons are present and identify those present for the record; and(3) determine whether notice requirements have been met and, if not, whether the affected persons waive notice.(b) Order of Adjudicatory Hearing. The order of the hearing shall be as follows: (1) the prosecuting attorney may make an opening statement, confining the statement to the facts that the state expects to prove;(2) the juvenile's counsel may make an opening statement after the prosecutor's opening statement (or waiver of the same) or may reserve the opening statement until immediately before offering the defense evidence. The statement shall be confined to a statement of the defense and the facts expected to be proved;(3) the prosecuting attorney shall offer evidence in support of the petition;(4) the juvenile's counsel may offer evidence in defense of the juvenile;(5) the juvenile's counsel and the prosecuting attorney shall have the right to crossexamine witnesses;(6) the prosecuting attorney may offer evidence in rebuttal of the defense evidence, and the juvenile's counsel may then offer evidence in rebuttal of the state's rebuttal evidence;(7) at the conclusion of the evidence, the prosecuting attorney may make a closing argument and rebuttal argument to any closing argument by the juvenile's counsel;(8) the juvenile's counsel may make a closing argument; and(9) motions for judgment of acquittal shall be governed by Rule 29 of the West Virginia Rules of Criminal Procedure.(c) Record. A record shall be made of the adjudicatory hearing. The record shall be transcribed: (1) pursuant to a court order; or(2) when the juvenile seeks an appeal or other review. The court reporter shall furnish a transcript of the proceedings at no charge to any indigent juvenile who seeks an appeal or other review if an affidavit is filed stating that neither the juvenile nor the juvenile's parents or legal guardians have the ability to pay for the transcript.