State v. Adams

WEBB, Justice.

The issue in this case is whether the initiation of a civil juvenile petition for abuse and neglect is the equivalent of the initiation of formal, adversarial proceedings for purposes of the invocation of the Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of counsel. The superior court did not deal with the defendant’s contentions under the Fifth Amendment or under the state Constitution, and neither party discusses them in the briefs. We shall deal in this case only with the defendant’s right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

In Kirby v.…