Opinion ID: 2514227
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Guardian Ad Litem's Participation Was Error

Text: ¶ 28 If the guardian ad litem were to have a role of any kind in the prosecution of defendant in the case before us, it would be peripheral, and strictly limited to matters relating specifically to the treatment of the child victim, such as assuring that the victim received notice and opportunity to be present and heard as mandated by the victims' rights statutes. [8] Nothing in the statutory authority for the appointment of a guardian ad litem, or the duties and responsibilities of the Office of the Guardian Ad Litem Director or the individual guardians ad litem under its direction, authorizes the guardian ad litem to act as co-prosecutor, as happened here. ¶ 29 Permitting the guardian ad litem to sit at counsel table was error. To permit the guardian ad litem to sit at counsel table in a criminal trial and act like a second prosecutor, wearing the cloak of authority of an employee of the courts, having been appointed by the trial court to the role, dangerously erodes the defendant's presumption of innocence. The guardian ad litem's role does not extend to this degree of protecting the interests of the child by assisting in the punishment of the alleged perpetrator of the crime against the child victim. Given the consequences of improper interference in the criminal process, namely reversal or retrial, participation in this criminal trial by the guardian ad litem was of no service to the child, or the court. ¶ 30 Allowing the guardian ad litem to sit at counsel table with the prosecution is inconsistent with the independent nature and role of the guardian ad litem. The interests of a child victim are not always the same as the interests of the parties to a criminal case: the defendant and the State. Consequently, because the victim was not an interested party, her court-appointed representative, the guardian ad litem, should not have been permitted to sit at counsel table, either with the State or with defendant. It was error to allow it. ¶ 31 Permitting the guardian ad litem to question witnesses and make objections was also error. Because a guardian ad litem does not represent an interested party in a criminal trial, the guardian ad litem is not permitted to further the interests of either the State or the defendant in a criminal case. Victims' rights legislation entitles victims to, among other things, be notified of criminal or juvenile justice proceedings, and be present and heard at important hearings. See, e.g., Utah Code Ann. § 77-37-3; Utah Code Ann. §§ 77-38-3 & -4. However, the right to be notified and present at trial does not include the right to be heard during the guilt phase of the proceedings. See id. § 77-38-2(5); § 77-38-3; § 77-38-4(1) & (2) (stating that [the Rights of Crime Victims Act] shall not confer any right to the victim of a crime to be heard: (a) at any criminal trial. . . unless called as a witness). In this case, however, the guardian ad litem insisted that he had the right, on behalf of A.G., to object to questions asked by defense counsel, and on more than one occasion, to ask follow-up questions to those of the prosecutor. To the contrary, the guardian ad litem's participation may not include objecting to questions and questioning witnesses in a criminal trial. The role of the guardian ad litem is not to act as an advocate either for the State's position or for the defendant's position in a criminal trial. ¶ 32 Nothing in the statutes under which a guardian ad litem may be appointed by the district court authorizes the guardian ad litem to sit at counsel table with the prosecutor in the criminal action, to object to questions or proceedings during trial, or to question or call witnesses. As the trial court here correctly concluded, there is also no authority for granting the guardian ad litem's request to make opening and closing statements to the jury in the criminal case. The role of the guardian ad litem in the criminal context involving a child victim is as limited as that enjoyed by the child's parent or other legal guardian. [9] ¶ 33 In sum, the circumstances under which an attorney guardian ad litem is appointed are circumscribed by statute, and the role of an attorney guardian ad litem in the litigation process is also limited because of the nature of the duties and responsibilities set forth by these statutes. [10] Consequently, the trial court's allowance of the guardian ad litem to sit at counsel table with the prosecutor, to make objections, and to examine witnesses, was error.