State Ex Rel. Barton v. Veley

HODGES, Justice.

The novel question presented is whether the mother of a child born out-of-wedlock has the right to representation by private counsel in a paternity proceeding. We find that she does.

A paternity complaint was lodged against Basil Charles Veley [defendant-appellant] by the Woods County District Attorney on behalf of Angela Marie Holt [complainant-appellee]. The complainant employed private counsel to represent her interests. The district attorney objected to the participation of an outside attorney and sought a writ of prohibition from this Court in Cause No. 56,592, Barton v.…