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Bill to protect child abuse witnesses fails in committee Wednesday, Jan 31, 2007 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A bill to restrict cross-examination of children by defendants accused of abusing them failed to clear a House committee Tuesday. Senate Bill 12 by Sen. Paul Miller, D-Melbourne, would allow a judge to appoint an attorney just for purposes of cross-examination when a defendant representing himself wants to question a child witness in a sexual abuse case. The bill previously passed the Senate failed to get a motion for recommendation Tuesday by the House Judiciary Committee. Miller said previously he filed the bill in response to a Sebastian County sexual assault case in which the defendant, representing himself at trial, cross-examined the girl he was accused of assaulting. Rep. Dawn Creekmore, D-Hensley, a co-sponsor who presented the bill to the House committee faced a barrage of questions Tuesday from committee members, eight of whom are lawyers. Several members questioned whether the measure would pass constitutional muster, saying it would violate a defendant's rights to represent himself and confront his accuser, and would assume guilt without a conviction. Some members noted that state law already permits the cross-examination of a child witness via closed-circuit television if a judge finds that face-to-face cross-examination would be traumatic. Creekmore said that type of cross-examination could still be traumatic. Jeff Rosenzweig, a Little Rock lawyer, testified that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a defendant's right to represent himself is absolute. Rosenzweig also quoted a high court ruling that said putting an accuser under "the sometimes hostile glare of the defendant" serves justice because it may confound and undo false accusers. After the meeting, Creekmore said she hopes no child of any member of the committee ever "sits in a witness stand and has to face their offender." |
