Opinion ID: 1793289
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Betz v. Betz

Text: Carlotta asserts that our recent decision in Betz v. Betz, 254 Neb. 341, 575 N.W.2d 406 (1998), makes § 43-272.01(2) unconstitutional. In Betz, we stated that the duties and responsibilities of a guardian ad litem appointed in a divorce proceeding in which child custody is at issue are not coextensive with those of an attorney who represents the minor. Id. at 347, 575 N.W.2d at 410. One person may not serve in both capacities. Id. at 347-48, 575 N.W.2d at 410. Carlotta directs this court to the following passage from Betz : One can argue that the Nebraska Juvenile Code, Neb. Rev.Stat. § 43-272.01(2)(e) (Cum.Supp.1996) allows a guardian ad litem to present evidence and witnesses and cross-examine witnesses at all evidentiary hearings. This statute, however, only applies to juvenile cases. Whether this juvenile statute is constitutional is something that we are not called upon to decide in this case. Betz v. Betz, 254 Neb. at 347, 575 N.W.2d at 410. Carlotta argues that as a matter of constitutional law, parents in termination cases must receive at least the same safeguards as parents in custody cases such as Betz, and thus she contends that Betz must be expanded to include juvenile cases, brief for appellant at 17, and that § 43-272.01(2) should be declared unconstitutional. Carlotta's reliance on Betz v. Betz, supra , is misplaced. First, the passage from Betz commenting on § 43-272.01(2) is dicta and carries no precedential weight. See Farmers Union Co-op. Ins. Co. v. Allied Prop. & Cas., 253 Neb. 177, 569 N.W.2d 436 (1997). Second, and more importantly, no constitutional issue was before this court in Betz. The issue in Betz was whether a guardian ad litem could ethically perform the functions of both an attorney and a witness simultaneously. This court concluded that Canon 5, DR 5-102(A), of the Code of Professional Responsibility, mandated on ethical grounds a separation of the two roles, and held that one person could not serve both as a child's attorney and as a child's guardian ad litem. Whether the guardian ad litem's actions in this case were unethical is irrelevant to the determination of the constitutional issue before us. Carlotta's argument that she was denied due process would arise only if the guardian ad litem's actions deprived the parent of process constitutionally due her, which is an altogether different issue from whether the guardian ad litem's actions were unethical. See Newman v. Sigler, 421 F.2d 1377 (8th Cir.1970). Thus, our decision in Betz has no bearing on the disposition of the constitutional issue in this case.