Like most pet owners, I have experienced how therapeutic a pet’s unconditional love can be during times of stress. It has not surprised me, therefore, to see many organizations, counselors and health care professionals formally recognize this.
It has long been considered, and is widely accepted as best practices to respond to cases of child abuse as part of a multi-disciplinary team (MDT
Many articles have been written about police interrogations of suspects and recording technology for custodial interviews. However, little has been written about the utilization of recording technology for child forensic interviews.
In the mid-1990s, as a new assistant prosecutor in Michigan assigned to District Court, much of my misdemeanor criminal trial docket was filled with domestic violence cases.
In everycase of child sexual abuse, thereis a crime scene that needs to beinspected and photographed.
As empirical research continues to both support and challenge the credibility of children’s statements regarding alleged sexual victimization, child abuse investigators, legal professionals and judicial officers seek reliable methods of determining the trustworthiness of the reports children provide
Olmsted County Child & Family Services in Rochester, Minnesota, developed a family case conferencing approach in the juvenile court system involving children determined to be a thigh risk of maltreatment
The single most important advantage a multidisciplinary team or lone investigator has in any type of child abuse investigation is the “Investigative Window of Opportunity(IWOP).”
Simply put, whatever the MDT does or does not do as part of the forensic interviewing process, including peer review, will be attacked by defense counsel.
The importance of the prosecutor’s opening statement in a case of child abuse cannot be overstated.At the close of voire dire, which can be a lengthy process,jurors are anxious to see what the case is really about and many jurors will develop a bias in favor of or opposed to the government’s case based on the prosecutor’s opening statement. Although an opening statement is not an argument for finding a defendant guilty, it can be equally persuasive
In the previous issue of Center Piece, I discussed a number of factors that prosecutors must keep in mind when presenting an opening statement
The importance of the prosecutor’s opening statement in a case of child abuse cannot be overstated
In Giles v.California,2008 U.S. Lexis 5264, 1 (U. S. June 25, 2008), the United States Supreme Court, in a deeply fractured opinion, held that the forfeiture by wrongdoing exception to confrontation could only be used to admit testimonial out-of-court statements when the prosecutor could show the defendant acted intentionally with the purpose of causing the witness to be unavailable to testify at trial.
Testifying in court is often stressful for children. Numerous studies document that children have very little, if any, understanding of legal processes
The field of forensic interviewing is a relatively new profession.The concept of a “forensic interview” was necessitated by high profile child sexual abuse cases from the 1980’s
Interviews of alleged child abuse victims and witnesses are often the primary source of information on possible criminal activities
Zero Abuse Project is a 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to the elimination of child sexual abuse. Our programs are designed to provide training and education to professionals and students, and to help transform institutions to effectively prevent, recognize and respond to child sexual abuse.
