Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 22 - CORRECTIONS, CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT › Part XV - Public Defender Board › Chapter 15 - Trial Court Performance Standards for Attorneys Representing Children in Delinquency Proceedings-Post-Adjudication › Section XV-1521 - Post-Disposition Representation

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 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.