14th Edition of NCVLI News

Page 1

Newsletter of Crime Victim Law

Meg Garvin, M.A., J.D., Executive Director Sarah LeClair, J.D., Legal Publications Director

14th Edition

L E G A L P U B L I C AT I O N S P R O J E C T O F T H E N AT I O N A L C R I M E V I C T I M L AW I N S T I T U T E AT L E W I S & C L A R K L AW S C H O O L

The Use of Video Technology to Aid Testimony of Adult Victims: The Case for Offering this Option to Sexual Assault Victims1 by Amy C. Liu, J.D. Shortly after entering the house one night, she is struck on the back of the head and knocked unconscious. She is beaten and raped, but, remarkably, she survives. She agrees to testify at trial. Days before the trial is scheduled to start, she decides she can’t go forward. She still experiences flashbacks. She can’t imagine being in the same room as him while she recounts the awful details from that night. Just the thought of doing so makes her feel sick. But the prosecutor says she has to testify at trial or else the case will be dismissed.2

IN THIS ISSUE 1

The Use of Video Technology to Aid Testimony of Adult Victims: The Case for Offering this Option to Sexual Assault Victims Amy C. Liu., J.D.

2

Message from the Director Meg Garvin, M.A., J.D.

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The Propriety of Excluding Evidence of Sexual Acts Between the Victim and Defendant Under Rape Shield Alison Wilkinson, J.D.

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In the Trenches

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Protecting the Victims of “Victimless” Crimes Rebecca S.T. Khalil, J.D.

Access to justice should not require any victim to suffer needless additional trauma. One option that should be available to victims, such as the one described above, is the use of live closed circuit television (CCTV) or videoconference technology (collectively, “video technology”) to allow her to testify at trial outside the physical presence of the defendant. Unfortunately, there is no evidence to suggest that prosecutors are routinely offering these victims the use of video technology to testify or that prosecutors are advocating that courts allow the use of such procedures unless the victims are young enough to fit within the scope of the jurisdiction’s child testimony statute3 or the victims are mentally or developmentally disabled.4 Notably, however, even in the absence of express statutory provisions providing for such alternative means of testifying, case law and public policy support allowing adult victims to testify via live video technology if the evidence establishes that testifying in the defendant’s physical presence would cause the victims to suffer serious emotional

In the coming year, NCVLI will be publishing a white paper on this topic that will provide additional supporting authority. 2 This scenario is adapted from the facts in People v. Burton, 556 N.W.2d 201 (Mich. Ct. App. 1996). 3 See, e.g., 18 U.S.C.A. § 3509 (allowing child witnesses to testify via CCTV if there is “a substantial likelihood . . . that the child would suffer emotional trauma”); Fl. Stat. Ann. § 92.54 (allowing use of CCTV for witnesses under 16 if “there is a substantial likelihood that the child . . . will suffer at least moderate emotional or mental harm due to the presence of the defendant if the child . . . is required to testify in open court”). 4 See, e.g., 725 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 5/106B-5(a)(2) (protecting adults who are “moderately, severely, or profoundly mentally retarded” or “affected by a developmental disability”); Iowa Code Ann. § 915.38(1) (protecting any “victim or witness with a mental illness, mental retardation, or other developmental disability”). 1

continued on page 3 © 2011 National Crime Victim Law Institute


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