DISCOVERYAND SUBPOENAS INFORMATIONFOR TRIAL WHAT IS DISCOVERY? wDISCOVERY ALLOWS YOU TO GATHER INFORMATION TO SUPPORT YOUR POSITION IN COURT wYOU CAN ASK THE COURT TO ISSUE AN ORDER GRANTING DISCOVERY wYOU PRESENT EVIDENCE AND WITNESSES TO SUPPORT YOUR POSTION IN COURT HEARINGS wYOU CAN REQUEST DOCUMENTS FROM THE OPPOSITION, SOCIAL SERVICES, ETC. wDISCOVERY DOCUMENTS PROVIDE INFORMATION TO DETERMINE WHAT WITNESSES TO CALL FOR TRIAL, WRITTEN DOCUMENTATION NEEDED FOR EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT YOUR CASE AND WHAT QUESTIONS TO ASK OPPOSITION WITNESSES, SOCIAL WORKERS OR DOCTORS, ETC. ? DISCOVERY IN JUVENILE CASES wLOCAL RULES IN SANTA CLARA COUNTYINITIALLY LIMIT YOUR DISCOVERY TO INFORMAL DISCOVERY(THIS IS A WRONGFUL LIMITATION OF YOUR DUE PROCESS RIGHTS) wONCE YOU HAVE REVIEWED THE INFORMAL DISCOVERY, FILE A FORMAL DISCOVERY MOTION TO GET THE GOOD STUFF wYOU CAN DO A DISCOVERY MOTION WITHOUT A ATTORNEY IF YOU CAN NOT AFFORD ONE AND YOU ARE CALLED A ?IN PRO PER? LITIGANT THE DISCOVERY MOTION wINSERT NAME, ADDRESS & PHONE # wADD TYPE OF MOTION I.E. DISCOVERY wBRIEFLY SUMMARIZE DISCOVERY INFORMATION NEEDED wREQUEST TIME, DATE AND LOCATION TO PRODUCE DOCUMENTS WELL BEFORE TRIAL wSIGN, SERVE ON ALL PARTIES AND FILE WITH THE COURT CLERK ? In re Malinda S. (1990) DUE PROCESS Due process requires that each party (a) receive a copy of the county?s social study report, (b) be given an opportunity to cross-examine the investigative officer and to subpoena and examine persons whose hearsay statements are contained in the report, and (c) be permitted to introduce evidence by way of rebuttal. ? DISCOVERY MOTION? CA RULES OF COURT (1) wRule 1420. Prehearing discovery w????? (a)[General purpose] This rule shall be liberally construed in favor of informal disclosures, subject to the right of a party to show privilege or other good cause not to disclose specific material or information. w????? (b) [Duty to disclose police reports] Upon filing the petition, petitioner shall promptly deliver to or make accessible for inspection and copying by the child and the parent or guardian, or their counsel, copies of the police, arrest, and crime reports relating to the pending matter. Privileged information may be omitted if notice of the omission is given simultaneously. w????? (c) [Affirmative duty to disclose] Petitioner shall disclose any evidence or information within petitioner's possession or control favorable to the child, parent, or guardian. w????? (d) [Material and information to be disclosed on request] Except as provided in subdivisions (g) and (h), petitioner shall, upon timely request, disclose to the child and parent or guardian, or their counsel, the following material and information within the petitioner's possession or control: DISCOVERY MOTION: CA RULES OF COURT (2) w????? (e) [Disclosure in section 300 proceedings] Except as provided in subdivisions (g) and (h), the parent or guardian shall, upon timely request, disclose to petitioner material and information within the parent's or guardian's possession or control that is relevant. If the parent or guardian is represented by counsel, a disclosure request shall be made through counsel. w????? (f) [Motion for prehearing discovery] On refusal of a party to permit disclosure of information or inspection of materials, the requesting party or counsel may move the court for an order requiring timely disclosure of the information or materials. The motion shall specifically and clearly designate the items sought, state the relevancy of the items, and state that a timely request has been made for the items and that the other party has refused to provide them. Each court may by local rule establish the manner and time within which a motion under this subdivision shall be made. w????? (g) [Limits on duty to disclose-protective orders] On a showing of privilege or other good cause, the court may make orders restricting disclosures. All material and information to which a party is entitled must be disclosed in time to permit counsel to make beneficial use of them. ? DISCOVERY MOTION wWE HAVE PROVIDED A STANDARD DISCOVERY MOTION TO OBTAIN RECORDS OF THE SOCIAL WORKERS OR OTHERS wFILE YOUR DISCOVERY MOTION WITH THE JUVENILE CLERK WHEN YOU HAVE A HEARING DATE SET BY THE COURT wSERVE ALL MOTIONS ON ALL PARTIES, ATTORNEY FOR CHILD, OTHER PARENTS, COUNTY OR OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES LIKE GUARDIAN?S WITNESS LIST wWE HAVE PROVIDED AN EXAMPLE OF A WITNESS LIST WHICH YOU SHOULD FILE WITH THE CLERK OF THE COURT PRIOR TO TRIAL wYOU MUST PRESENT THE NAMES OF WITNESSES AND THE REASON THEY ARE NEEDED TO SUPPORT YOUR CASE wTHESE WITNESSES MUST BE SUBPOENAED TO BE PRESENT AT THE TRIAL WITH THE JUVENILE SUBPOENA FORM SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM YOU MAY FILE A JUVENILE SUBPOENA FOR INFORMATION ONLY CALLED A DUCES TECUM, CHECK 2(b) ON THE SUBPOENA WHEN YOU ARE REQUESTING INFORMATION FROM A DOCTOR OR COUNSELOR AND DON?T NEED SPECIFIC TESTIMONY FROM THEM, USE THE OPTION OF A DUCES TECUM ON THE SUBPOENA FORM CHECK WITH THE WITNESS TO MAKE SURE THEY RECEIVED THE SUBPOENA MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE SUBPOENAED DOCUMENTS BEFORE YOU GET TO COURT OR FROM THE CLERK IF SENT TO COURT? DISCOVERY MOTION AND WITNESS LIST WITH SUBPOENA FILED WITH CLERK w?? YOU WILL NEED TO FILE A DISCOVERY MOTION FOR INFORMATION YOU NEED AND SUBPENAS FOR WITNESSES w?? THESE WILL BE CAREFULLY BASED UPON THE INFORMATION YOU HAVE IN YOUR CASE TIMING OF ACTIONS ONCE YOU HAVE FILED THE SUBPEONAS AND DISCOVERY MOTION YOU MAY FIND MORE INFORMATION IN SUPPORT OF YOUR CASE MAKE SURE ALL MATERIALS FOR DISCOVERY ARE SENT TO YOUR HOUSE OR THE CLERK OF THE COURT WELL BEFORE YOUR HEARING YOU MAY NEED TO ASK FOR ADDITIONAL DISCOVERY BUT GENERALLY JUVENILE COURT WILL LIMIT YOUR DISCOVERY TO WHAT THEY THINK YOU NEED, (NOT WHAT YOU REALLY NEED, A DUE PROCESS VIOLATION SEE In re Malinda S.) YOU CAN ASK FOR A EXTENSION OF TIME IF YOU NEED TO SUBPOENA DOCUMENTS OR MORE WITNESSES BUT THIS IS GENERALLY NOT GRANTED BY THE COURTIT GENERALLY TAKES UP TO 30 DAYS FOR THE SUBPOENA PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS ? DECLARATION OF WITNESSES wTHE COURT MAY LIMIT YOUR WITNESSES TO WRITTEN DECLARATIONS OF THOSE WITNESSES wDECLARATIONS MAY NOT BE AS GOOD AS A WITNESS QUESTIONED IN COURT wADDITIONAL DECLARATIONS MY BE REQUESTED OR THE OPPOSITION MAY CALL THEM AS A WITNESS CONCLUSION DISCOVERY AND SUBPOENAS w?? DISCOVERY, WITNESSES AND SUBPEONA?S OF WITNESSES AND INFORMATION IS KEY TO WINNING YOUR HEARING IN JUVENILE COURT w?? ACF IS THERE TO HELP YOU HELP YOURSELF w?? AS A GROUP WE CAN GET JUSTICE ? ?