Section 332.2. Pre-trial motions; procedure  


Latest version.
  • 1.  Except  as  otherwise
      expressly provided in this article, all pre-trial motions shall be filed
      within thirty days after the conclusion of the  initial  appearance  and
      before   commencement  of  the  fact-finding  hearing,  or  within  such
      additional times as the court may fix upon application of the respondent
      made prior to entering a finding  pursuant  to  section  345.1.  If  the
      respondent  is  not  represented  by  counsel  or a law guardian and has
      requested an adjournment to retain counsel or to  have  a  law  guardian
      appointed,  such thirty-day period shall commence on the date counsel or
      a law guardian initially appears on the respondent's  behalf.  A  motion
      made  pursuant  to subdivision eight of section 332.1 must be made prior
      to the commencement of  a  fact-finding  hearing  or  the  entry  of  an
      admission.
        2.  All  pre-trial  motions  with  supporting affidavits, exhibits and
      memoranda of law, if any, shall be  included  within  the  same  set  of
      motion  papers wherever practicable, and shall be made returnable on the
      same date, unless the respondent shows that it would be  prejudicial  to
      the  defense were a single judge to consider all such motions. Where one
      motion seeks to provide the basis for making another motion, it shall be
      deemed impracticable to include both motions in the same set  of  motion
      papers.
        3.  Notwithstanding  the  provisions  of subdivisions one and two, the
      court must entertain and decide on its merits, at any  time  before  the
      conclusion  of  the  fact-finding  hearing, any appropriate motion based
      upon grounds of which the respondent could not, with due diligence, have
      been previously aware,  or  which,  for  other  good  cause,  could  not
      reasonably  have  raised within the period specified in subdivision one.
      Any other pre-trial motions made after such thirty  day  period  may  be
      summarily denied, but the court, in the interest of justice and for good
      cause  shown  may,  in  its  discretion, at any time before a finding is
      entered, entertain and dispose of the motion on the merits.
        4. If the respondent is detained, the court shall hear  and  determine
      pre-trial motions on an expedited basis.