Commonwealth v. B.H., 548 S.W. 3d 238 (Ky. Sup Ct. 2018)

The Kentucky Supreme Court found that competency attaches for young people at transfer hearings pursuant to the 6th and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution as well as Section 11 of the Kentucky Constitution. The Court reasoned that because transfer hearings are critically important proceedings as identified in Kent, competence must be established before transfer proceedings commence. The court offered the following language to support its reasoning: ““Effective assistance requires counsel to move for a hearing if and when a [young person]’s competency may be at issue. This is so because inherent in effective representation is a client who can also assist in the preparation of a defense. A [young person], and B.H. herein, has the right to present testimony and cross-examine witnesses at a preliminary hearing. See KRS 645.070(3) and (4). Had the district court not considered the issue of competency, it would have infringed on B.H.’s right to effective assistance of counsel.”