1/21/11 Judge appoints guardian ad litem in juvenile murder case

  • By Nick Sabo
  • January 21, 2011
  • 390
                        
When considering the case of a 10-year-old charged with killing his mother, Holmes County Juvenile Court Judge Thomas D. Lee felt he needed someone who could look after the boy’s best interests. Upon his arrest, Joseph McVay, 10, Township Road 511, Big Prairie, had no living parents in the home. The whereabouts of McVay’s father, Michael McVay, were undetermined, with an arrest warrant outstanding in Wayne County. In the mean time, the youth was being introduced into the justice system, housed at a juvenile detention facility. Questions such as whether McVay’s placement is appropriate, and what to do when the father came back into the picture, needed articulation. In addition to Joseph’s legal council, Lee appointed attorney Douglas Milhoan as the boy’s guardian ad litem, a title that essentially vests Milhoan with Joseph’s voice in non-legal matters. “You usually will not have a guardian ad litem in delinquency cases, because usually there is a parent present and the attorney can see to the legal issues,” Lee said. “In this case, I had the age to consider, the mother is deceased, the father was not around. I felt (Joseph) needed that extra layer of protection in this case.” Lee is not at liberty to discuss Milhoan’s specific role in Joseph’s case. Joseph stands before Lee’s court charged with one count of murder for allegedly shooting and killing his mother, Deborah McVay, 46, Jan. 2 at their residence. However, what he expects from those persons designated as a guardian ad litem is a subject Lee is very familiar with. Guardian ad litem literally translates from Latin as “guardian to the case”. The guardian, therefor, serves their role within the confines of the case, representing the child’s best interests. Usually, a guardian ad litem is appointed in custody and abuse cases, Lee said. It is the guardian’s job to investigate the child’s background and make a recommendation to the court on placement and other relevant matters. “The attorney is working for the best legal result,” Lee said. “The guardian ad litem is there to advocate for what is in the best interest of the child. That may be the same as the legal result, or sometimes different.” Milhoan has served as a guardian ad litem since 2001. Delving into the relevant matters of a case is actually a process of investigation into the child’s life, he said. What a child thinks is best for themselves is often at odds with the reality of their home life. “Children age 10 to 12 are the most difficult,” Milhoan said. “They’re old enough to know what they want but not old enough to have a learned opinion. For example, a child in a custody case may say they want to stay with dad because dad lets him play video games all the time (however) dad maybe isn’t taking him to the doctor when he needs to.” In most cases, Milhoan visits with both parents in the home and investigates the child’s performance at school. He gets a feel for where each individual parent is in their relationship to the child, and the home visit allows for Milhoan to check for safety concerns. A check for truancy and academic performance can be telling as well. And, of course, he meets with the child one-on-one as necessary. In addition to fact-finding, Milhoan also tries to make recommendations to the child’s family that are also in the child’s best interests. With the appointment in Joseph McVay’s case, Lee said he expects Milhoan to act “as an individual source of information to the court”. Lee said Milhoan’s appointment will likely run the duration of the case. Milhoan said Michael McVay has entered back into Joseph’s life and has been allowed visitation with Joseph, who is currently being held at Richland County Juvenile Detention Center. How the father possibly fits into Joseph’s future will be a part of Milhoan’s investigations. Milhoan said the best recommendation he can make sometimes includes a lot of gray areas. It is up to the court to take the information and act upon it. “Sometimes it’s pretty clear cut and I’m 90 percent to 10 percent sure, other times it’s 55/45 percent sure. I like to give the court a number,” Milhoan said. “Whatever the result, I always hope the child’s life is improved through the whole thing.”


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