A bill for an act relating to testimony by certain witnesses by two-way closed-circuit equipment.

Senate

File

66

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

66

BY

PETERSEN

,

WEINER

,

WINCKLER

,

BENNETT

,

TRONE

GARRIOTT

,

CELSI

,

BLAKE

,

KNOX

,

BISIGNANO

,

TOWNSEND

,

STAED

,

QUIRMBACH

,

DOTZLER

,

DONAHUE

,

and

WAHLS

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

testimony

by

certain

witnesses

by

two-way

1

closed-circuit

equipment.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

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66

Section

1.

Section

915.38,

subsection

1,

paragraph

a,

Code

1

2025,

is

amended

to

read

as

follows:

2

a.

Upon

its

own

motion

or

upon

motion

of

any

party,

a

3

court

may

protect

a

minor,

as

defined

in

section

599.1

,

4

from

trauma

caused

by

testifying

in

the

physical

presence

of

5

the

defendant

where

it

would

impair

the

minor’s

ability

to

6

communicate,

by

ordering

that

the

testimony

of

the

minor

be

7

taken

in

a

room

other

than

the

courtroom

and

be

televised

by

8

two-way

closed-circuit

equipment

for

viewing

in

the

courtroom.

9

However,

such

an

order

shall

be

entered

only

upon

a

specific

10

finding

by

the

court

that

such

measures

are

necessary

to

11

protect

the

minor

from

trauma.

Only

the

judge,

prosecuting

12

attorney,

defendant’s

attorney,

persons

necessary

to

operate

13

the

equipment,

and

any

person

whose

presence,

in

the

opinion

14

of

the

court,

would

contribute

to

the

welfare

and

well-being

15

of

the

minor

may

be

present

in

the

room

with

the

minor

during

16

the

minor’s

testimony.

The

judge

shall

inform

the

minor

that

17

the

defendant

will

not

be

present

in

the

room

in

which

the

18

minor

will

be

testifying

but

that

the

defendant

will

be

viewing

19

the

minor’s

testimony

through

closed-circuit

television

,

and

20

that

the

minor

will

be

able

to

view

the

defendant

while

giving

21

testimony

.

22

EXPLANATION

23

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

24

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

25

This

bill

relates

to

testimony

by

certain

witnesses

by

26

two-way

closed-circuit

equipment.

27

The

bill

provides

that

upon

its

own

motion

or

upon

motion

28

of

any

party,

a

court

may

protect

a

minor

up

to

18

years

of

29

age

from

trauma

caused

by

testifying

in

the

physical

presence

30

of

the

defendant

where

it

would

impair

the

minor’s

ability

to

31

communicate,

by

ordering

that

the

testimony

of

the

minor

be

32

taken

in

a

room

other

than

the

courtroom

and

be

televised

by

33

two-way

closed-circuit

equipment

for

viewing

in

the

courtroom.

34

Current

law

does

not

specify

that

the

closed-circuit

equipment

35

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66

be

two-way.

Upon

a

finding

of

necessity,

the

court

may

also

1

allow

the

testimony

of

a

victim

or

witness

with

a

mental

2

illness,

an

intellectual

disability,

or

other

developmental

3

disability

to

be

taken

by

two-way

closed-circuit

equipment

4

regardless

of

the

age

of

the

victim

or

witness.

5

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