Navajo SCT Denies Habeas Relief in Juvenile Right to Counsel Case

Here is the opinion in In re M.C.

The court’s syllabus:

The Court denies a petition for writ of habeas corpus, holding that 9 NNC 1310(A), which provides for a child’s right to assistance of counsel at “all proceedings alleging the delinquency of a child” does not attach at a detention hearing that must be held within 24 hours of detention, on the basis that detention hearings address further detention, not the merits of the charges, to which young men and women are able to speak for themselves.