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Appeals court hears challenge to juvenile-court unfitness finding after contested trial and motion for new trial
Summary
A mother whose parental fitness was found unfit in a Department of Children and Families case argued the Appeals Court should vacate that finding because of ineffective assistance of trial counsel and related procedural concerns; the department and children's counsel urged the panel to affirm.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court heard argument Jan. 8 in Department of Children and Families v. Mother, Docket No. 24-634, challenging a juvenile-court finding that a mother was unfit and the denial of her motion for a new trial. Appellant counsel Nicole Paquin argued trial counsel’s purportedly ineffective assistance deprived the mother of evidence that would have supported her parental fitness and that the post-trial hearing judge did not adequately address…
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