Section 25 Participation byJuvenileOfficerinInterrogation

• Library: Juvenile Law 2011

In In re M___ C___, 504 S.W.2d 641 (Mo. App. E.D. 1974), the court held that it is not inconsistent with the juvenile officer’s investigative duties for the officer to directly interview or interrogate a child who comes within the juvenile court’s jurisdiction. M___ C___ further held that, as long as constitutional protections are extended to the child, any self‑incriminating statements, admissions, or confessions obtained by the juvenile officer are admissible in juvenile court delinquency proceedings. Id. at 647. But at least one case has regarded a juvenile officer’s participation in a juvenile interrogation as an impermissible conflict of interest. See State v. Tolliver, 561 S.W.2d 407 (Mo. App. W.D. 1977).

For other reasons, interrogation is probably best left to traditional law enforcement officials:

1. Police and other law enforcement officers are experts in this area and are better prepared to obtain necessary information for use in court proceedings.

2. The elicitation of information by the juvenile officer and the potential necessity of having to testify as to its contents...