This Washington
In Wake of Court House Suicide Threat, State Rep Reintroduces Bill to Protect Sexual Assault Plaintiffs
It's not all about the budget. Democratic state Rep. Roger Goodman reintroduces controversial plaintiffs' rights bill.
Following last month's case in which a 21-year-old who accused a man of raping her when she was a child, threatened to jump off the King County Courthouse rather than be questioned by her alleged molester, state Rep. Roger Goodman (D-45, Kirkland) is reintroducing a bill he sponsored last year that would protect victim-witnesses of sexual crimes from having to face the defendants directly in court.
The defendant in this case was convicted Wednesday of seven criminal charges against four other women involved in the case, but charges from the first woman were dropped at the insistence of the prosecution, because of her refusal to participate (The judge refused to declare a mistrial.) “I’m getting a huge number of pleas for this never to happen again,” Goodman said.
The same legislation was introduced last year to prevent sexual crime victims from potential harassment or embarrassment when being cross-examined by self-representing defendants. The House passed it, but the Senate didn't take it up—state Sen. Adam Kline (D-37, S. Seattle), chair of the senate judiciary committee, decided it was unconstitutional to tell judges what to do in the courtroom.
The new version of the bill asks for questions from the defendant to be delivered in writing. “We’re trying to balance, as always, the rights of the defendant, and the rights or safety of the victim,” Goodman said.
But there's still the question of whether Sen. Kline will look favorably on it. We have a call in to Kline.
Following last month's case in which a 21-year-old who accused a man of raping her when she was a child, threatened to jump off the King County Courthouse rather than be questioned by her alleged molester, state Rep. Roger Goodman (D-45, Kirkland) is reintroducing a bill he sponsored last year that would protect victim-witnesses of sexual crimes from having to face the defendants directly in court.
The defendant in this case was convicted Wednesday of seven criminal charges against four other women involved in the case, but charges from the first woman were dropped at the insistence of the prosecution, because of her refusal to participate (The judge refused to declare a mistrial.) “I’m getting a huge number of pleas for this never to happen again,” Goodman said.
The same legislation was introduced last year to prevent sexual crime victims from potential harassment or embarrassment when being cross-examined by self-representing defendants. The House passed it, but the Senate didn't take it up—state Sen. Adam Kline (D-37, S. Seattle), chair of the senate judiciary committee, decided it was unconstitutional to tell judges what to do in the courtroom.
The new version of the bill asks for questions from the defendant to be delivered in writing. “We’re trying to balance, as always, the rights of the defendant, and the rights or safety of the victim,” Goodman said.
But there's still the question of whether Sen. Kline will look favorably on it. We have a call in to Kline.
