Chester, Conn., solo Denise Evarts has been relieved of her guardian ad litem duties in the delinquency case of a 13-year-old boy, even though Middletown Superior Court Judge Henry S. Cohn found she committed no ethical violation by speaking with the ward without his public defender present.
In December, Supervisory Public Defender Maria Madsen Holzberg requested Evarts be disciplined for violating Rule 4.2 of the Rules of Professional Conduct. That rule prohibits lawyers from speaking with a represented client. Invoking her duty to report unethical behavior, Holzberg asked the judge to remove Evarts as GAL and also prescribe an ethics course for Evarts to take.
