QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Our original goal was to determine if this was an effective alternative to face-to-face interviewing when interviewers and children couldn’t connect because of geographic distances,” says Dickinson. “Given the pandemic, our work has taken on a more pressing context and we’re now working with professionals from around the country on how to implement interviewing protocols using this technology,” adds Dickinson. “Protecting children and investigating claims of abuse has to go on, and right now the field is struggling with how to do that in a way that is safe and effective.”
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Professionals shared their concerns, which ranged from broad questions to queries focusing on the smallest details. Topics included: ensuring that children are interviewed in a safe environment (e.g., not in the family home in an intrafamilial case); protecting the privacy of children; minimizing suggestive influences; and capturing the nuances of interviewing in a virtual environment. Practical concerns included choosing the best technology for recording and ensuring its authenticity, disinfecting the room where the child is being interviewed, and getting children and support staff to interview locations without exposing them to infection. The group outlined recommendations in a document published by the National Children’s Alliance titled “Emergency Tele-Forensic Interview Guidelines.” This week, the guidelines were distributed to over 800 Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) nationwide."
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GIST: "Given shelter-in-place orders and quarantines related to the COVID-19 outbreak, experts are expecting to see significant increases in child abuse cases as domestic violence rates rise in the coming weeks and months.
But how can professional child advocates protect the most vulnerable victims in a time of physical distancing?
Montclair State professors Jason Dickinson (Department of Psychology) and Nicole Lytle (Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy) are working to solve that problem.
As co-directors of the Talking Lab, Dickinson and Lytle have been working in conjunction with Debra Poole of Central Michigan University to finish a three-year study funded by the National Science Foundation on tele-forensic interviewing – a process that involves eliciting eyewitness testimony from children using tele-technology.
“Our original goal was to determine if this was an effective alternative to face-to-face interviewing when interviewers and children couldn’t connect because of geographic distances,” says Dickinson.
“Given the pandemic, our work has taken on a more pressing context and we’re now working with professionals from around the country on how to implement interviewing protocols using this technology,” adds Dickinson. “Protecting children and investigating claims of abuse has to go on, and right now the field is struggling with how to do that in a way that is safe and effective.”
Toward that end, Lytle, Dickinson and Poole quickly organized a March 20 conference call with approximately 500 Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs), and national stakeholders including the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations, to discuss the legal, logistical, technical and other challenges with the goal of drafting policy on best practices.
Professionals shared their concerns, which ranged from broad questions to queries focusing on the smallest details. Topics included: ensuring that children are interviewed in a safe environment (e.g., not in the family home in an intrafamilial case); protecting the privacy of children; minimizing suggestive influences; and capturing the nuances of interviewing in a virtual environment. Practical concerns included choosing the best technology for recording and ensuring its authenticity, disinfecting the room where the child is being interviewed, and getting children and support staff to interview locations without exposing them to infection.
The group outlined recommendations in a document published by the National Children’s Alliance titled “Emergency Tele-Forensic Interview Guidelines.” This week, the guidelines were distributed to over 800 Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) nationwide.
“CACs are already behind in their interviews, so figuring out how to put these guidelines into play is pressing,” says Dickinson. “The guidelines may seem simple, but putting them into practice is enormously complex.”
Lytle adds, “Our study found that tele-interviewing does not reduce the quality or accuracy of children’s testimony, which provides legal cover for helping professionals as they start to conduct tele-forensic interviews. We’re fortunate that we had the study’s results in hand when the pandemic struck and were able to help translate the findings into practice.""
The entire story can be read at: "The move to technology could cut costs, speed trial timelines and provide more access to rural areas when things return to normal. “It is forcing some of this technology in areas we should already have it,” said Duffie Stone of the National District Attorneys Association. Nina Ginsberg of the National Association of Defense Lawyers said video-conferencing “should be very temporary, and only with the defendant’s consent. People have the right to a public trial.”https://www.forensicmag.com/562526-Researchers-Aid-Child-Witnesses-With-Tele-Forensic-Interviewing.
The entire story can be read at: "The move to technology could cut costs, speed trial timelines and provide more access to rural areas when things return to normal. “It is forcing some of this technology in areas we should already have it,” said Duffie Stone of the National District Attorneys Association. Nina Ginsberg of the National Association of Defense Lawyers said video-conferencing “should be very temporary, and only with the defendant’s consent. People have the right to a public trial.”https://www.forensicmag.com/562526-Researchers-Aid-Child-Witnesses-With-Tele-Forensic-Interviewing.
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: (For article below on how courts are turning to technology during the crisis). "The move to technology could cut costs, speed trial timelines and provide more access to rural areas when things return to normal. “It is forcing some of this technology in areas we should already have it,” said Duffie Stone of the National District Attorneys Association. Nina Ginsberg of the National Association of Defense Lawyers said video-conferencing “should be very temporary, and only with the defendant’s consent. People have the right to a public trial.”
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To learn how courts are turning to technology during the crisis, check out this story published by "The Crime Report" on March 30, 2020 at the link below: "The coronavirus pandemic has forced courts to abandon traditions and embrace long-resisted technology allowing legal work even if courtrooms are empty. The effort has frayed personal connections that build trust among lawyers and judges and challenged the idea that defendants have a right to confront accusers, the Wall Street Journal reports. A Florida attorney learned her trial in three days would be held via a video-conferencing technology she had never used. A Texas judge emptied a courtroom to allow a defendant to talk privately with his attorney by phone. A New York City judge declared a mistrial over an attorney’s coughing while questioning a witness by speakerphone. Judges are holding trials over Zoom, the online video-conference service, and attorneys are questioning witnesses or making oral arguments by phone. Defendants are pleading guilty without entering court. The measures are necessary to provide a resolution for defendants stuck in jail, protect domestic-violence victims in immediate danger and avoid a crippling backlog when courts reopen. The move to technology could cut costs, speed trial timelines and provide more access to rural areas when things return to normal. “It is forcing some of this technology in areas we should already have it,” said Duffie Stone of the National District Attorneys Association. Nina Ginsberg of the National Association of Defense Lawyers said video-conferencing “should be very temporary, and only with the defendant’s consent. People have the right to a public trial.” Defendants can be formally charged, have bail hearings and enter guilty pleas by video conference from jail. At San Antonio’s Bexar County courthouse, people mill about in 25 courtrooms daily, said District Attorney Joe Gonzales. To reduce crowds, some judges use video-conferencing. “Even some of our judges that may be old school are willing to learn,” he said.""
https://thecrimereport.org/2020/03/30/courts-turn-to-technology-during-coronavirus-crisis/
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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