GREENLEAF CHILD WITNESS AMENDMENT TAKES FIRST STEP IN NEW SESSION
HARRISBURG –The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved unanimously Senate Bill 55, a joint resolution proposing two separate amendments to the state constitution to allow for electronic testimony by child victims and witnesses judged emotionally incapable of testifying in court in the presence of the accused.
The measure, sponsored by Sen. Stewart J. Greenleaf, would bring Pennsylvania into line with the majority of states that provide an alternative means for children who have been victims of or a material witness to a crime to provide testimony. The United States Supreme Court in 1990 ruled that electronic testimony is allowable when a judge holds a pre-trial hearing and determines that a child would be too traumatized to testify in a courtroom setting.
As a constitutional amendment, the Greenleaf proposal must be passed by two consecutive sessions of the General Assembly in order to appear on the ballot for the state’s voters to decide. The proposal was approved in the 2001-2002 legislative session and must achieve passage during the 2003-2004 session to become a referendum in upcoming elections.
The earliest the measure could come before voters would be the May 20 Primary Election.
Greenleaf noted that the last time the proposed constitutional change was on the ballot, November 7, 1995, citizens overwhelmingly approved it. However, the State Supreme Court, acting on an appeal by a defense attorney, invalidated the referendum on the technical objection that the issue should have been listed on the ballot as two questions instead of just one.
"We’ve gone back to the drawing board and started over again, and we will continue to push for this special consideration for child victims until it is in effect across this state," Greenleaf said. "Some children can testify in open court, and that’s fine. But others, after seeing a horrible crime or being the victim of one, cannot even speak in the presence of the alleged perpetrator—a perpetrator who may have threatened them or other family members with further harm if they testify. If trial courts don’t have discretion to allow for closed circuit television or videotaped testimony, then some of worst cases are not prosecuted and perpetrators go free," the senator said.
According to the National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse, 35 states have enacted legislation authorizing the use of videotaped testimony and 34 states have statutes authorizing closed circuit television testimony. Children testifying by electronic means are still subject to cross-examination, but are spared testifying within sight of the accused.
"This is about giving Pennsylvania children the same kind of access to justice that children in the majority of other states have had for many years," Greenleaf said.
