Section 39I Appeal; trial de novo, with or without jury; rights and procedures - Massachusetts Statutes

Section 39I. Any child who is adjudicated a child in need of services may appeal for a trial de novo in a jury-of-six session of the juvenile court department for the county where the hearing is held, as designated by the chief justice of the juvenile court department. Such appeal shall be made by filing a written notice of same by the end of the next business day after the entry of judgment or adjudication, or within such further time as the court may allow.

The child may waive his claim to jury trial and have the appeal heard by a judge without jury. When an appeal is claimed, the clerk of the court in which said claim is filed shall forward forthwith all papers in the case to the clerk of the court designated to hear such appeals. The verdict of the jury shall be unanimous and the court shall enter and record its findings upon the verdict of the jury.

All the rights and procedures provided in sections thirty-nine E to thirty-nine H, inclusive, shall apply at the trial of the appeal. The justice presiding at said trial shall have all the powers and duties of a justice sitting in a juvenile court under this chapter. No justice shall preside over a trial on appeal in a case in which he presided at the initial trial. The trial on appeal in a district court jury session shall be heard in a session set apart from the other business of the district court and devoted exclusively to juvenile cases. This shall be known as the juvenile appeals session and shall have a separate trial list and docket.

An appeal shall not stay the order, judgment or decree appealed from, but the district court or juvenile court may otherwise order, on application and hearing consistent with this chapter, if suitable provision is made for the care and custody of the child.

Review may be had in the appeals court in the same manner as is provided for trials of civil cases held in the superior court department.