In Re Ann S.

The parents of Ann S., aged 13, have appealed from orders of the juvenile court taking her physical custody from them, as a result of charges and evidence that (1) the father had brutally beaten the minor, and (2) that her mother had failed to protect the minor from the physical abuse of the father.

At the end of a somewhat lengthy juvenile court hearing, and before any order was made, the minor’s court-appointed attorney stated to the presiding court commissioner: “Your Honor, there is one thing Ann . . ., which was going to tell the court just before she stepped down, and as she informed me she would request the court to appoint her a new attorney. . . . That is her request. I informed the court of this. ” The commissioner responded: “She will keep her present attorney at least until the conclusion of the matter.”

Upon recommendation of the commissioner, the juvenile court thereafter entered the orders from which the appeal is taken.

Minors, no less than adults, are “ ‘persons’ under our Constitution . . . possessed of fundamental rights which the State must respect. ...” (Tinker v. Des Moines School Dist. (1969) 393 U.S. 503, 511 [ 21 L.Ed.2d 731, 740 , 89 S.Ct. 733…