SB 2359

In a criminal case where the victim of any of the following offenses was under 18 at the time the offense was committed, present law authorizes the court to order the child's testimony be taken outside the courtroom by means of two-way closed circuit television (" CCTV ""):  Aggravated sexual battery .  Rape of a child .  Incest .  Aggravated child abuse .  Kidnapping .  Aggravated kidnapping .  Especially aggravated kidnapping .  Trafficking for a commercial sex act .  Patronizing prostitution .  Criminal attempt to commit any of the offenses in this list. Prior to entering such an order, present law requires the trial judge to make a case-specific finding of necessity that (i) the particular child involved would be traumatized, ( ii ) t he source of the trauma is not the courtroom generally but the presence of the defendant, and (iii) the emotional distress suffered by the child would be more than de minimis, such that the child could not reasonably communicate. This bill adds the following clarifications to the present law:  The child does not need to testify or be present in the courtroom for the trial judge to make a determination as described above.  There is a rebuttable presumption that a child under 13 would be traumatized by the presence of the defendant and that the emotional distress suffered by the child would be more than de minimus, such that the child could not reasonably communicate.  Before ordering the testimony of a child to be taken by two-way CCTV, the trial judge must make a finding that such an order does not unduly prejudice the defendant."