Expert Testimony Required at Hearing

(a)For a hearing on a certificate, a treating professional who has examined the respondent since he or she was placed under emergency treatment/observation shall testify.

(b)For a hearing on a petition, the testimony of a treating professional who has examined the respondent more recently than seven

(7)calendar days before the petition was filed is required.

(1)Such testimony may be presented by affidavit, unless respondent’s counsel requests of the petitioner or petitioner’s counsel, in writing, the presence of such a treating professional at the assisted treatment hearing.

(2)A copy of this request must be filed with the court and made at least seventy-two

(72)hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, prior to the hearing.

(3)If planning to present the examining treating professional’s testimony by affidavit, counsel for the petitioner must present a copy of the affidavit either to respondent’s counsel or at the office of respondent’s counsel at least twenty-four

(24)hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, prior to the hearing.

(d)The procedures applicable when the respondent has not been examined prior to the hearing are delineated in § 82A601. COL622016 CH. 82A ASSISTED OUTPATIENT TREATMENT 2015 SOURCE: Subsection designations added pursuant to authority granted by 1 GCA § 1606.