State v. C.P. (In re B.A.P.)

State v. C.P. (In re B.A.P.)

IN THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS

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State of Utah, in the interest of B.A.P. and A.S.P., persons under eighteen years of age.

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State of Utah,

Petitioner and Appellee,

v.

C.P. and A.P.,

Respondents and Appellants.

MEMORANDUM DECISION
(Not For Official Publication)
 

Case No. 20030758-CA
 

F I L E D
(April 1, 2004)
 

2004 UT App 84

 

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Seventh District Juvenile, Moab Department

The Honorable Lyle R. Anderson

Attorneys: William L. Schultz, Moab, for Appellants

Mark L. Shurtleff, John M. Peterson, and Carol L.C. Verdoia, Salt Lake City, for Appellee

Martha Pierce, Salt Lake City, Guardian Ad Litem

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Before Judges Billings, Jackson, and Thorne.

PER CURIAM:

C.P. and A.P. (Parents) appeal from a decree terminating their parental rights. The State moves for summary reversal based on manifest error, see Utah R. App. P. 10(a)(3), and for a remand for a new trial. The Guardian Ad Litem and Parents support the State's motion.

The juvenile court committed reversible error by failing to conduct a proper inquiry into Parents' complaints regarding their representation by trial counsel. See In re C.C., 2002 UT App 149,¶¶5, 10, 13, 48 P.3d 244. Ordinarily when the juvenile court fails to make a proper inquiry into an indigent party's complaints regarding trial counsel's representation, the appropriate remedy is to remand for the juvenile court to determine whether the complaints justify appointment of substitute counsel under the good cause standard. See id. at ¶¶13-14. However, the State concedes that a new trial is warranted based on ineffectiveness and because Parents were denied a fair trial.

Accordingly, we reverse and remand for a new trial.

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Judith M. Billings,

Presiding Judge

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Norman H. Jackson, Judge

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William A. Thorne Jr., Judge