Victims in the Criminal Justice System

1 November

• 1. JB Van Hollen. Attorney General. Former DA, AUSA, and PD.
  2. Amy Brown. Child victim specialist.
  3. Shelly Rush. Prosecutor in Dane County DA's office. 19 years in Kenosha.
• Crime prevention: preventing the creation of victims.
• Internet Crimes Against Children: #1 priority. This is a long-term prevention strategy-- it prevents future crimes (incl. ones by victims).
• Note that most victims never get any services because their case never comes to the attention of the authorities.
• Cognitive Graphic Interview Protocol: a funneling style of questioning to determine whether or not child abuse has occurred.
• Red Cross death notification protocol: going slowly, answering questions.
• Court prep: what happens to you when you get scared or nervous? If you can anticipate the witness's reaction for the jury, you can defuse it (e.g., nervous laughter). Also, if you can tell us what you're worried about, we can help you. Is there anything you could bring into the courtroom that would help you?
• Wis. Stat. § 908.08 : hearsay exception for audiovisual recordings and statements of children
• Wis. Stat. § 906.11 : mode and manner of presentation is up to the judge. Judge, don't you want accurate information? Shouldn't we do what we can to help the witness be comfortable so that the testimony won't be under duress?
• Kids are good at who and what. Less good at where. Horrible at when and why.
• Complex sentences (3-parts: do you remember, telling your mom, what Glen did?) can be problematic. In this case, the point was what Glen did, not that the mom was told or whether he remembers.