SF 4156

as introduced - 92nd Legislature (2021 - 2022) Posted on 03/22/2022 08:41am

A bill for an act
relating to judiciary; raising the age at which a child may be permitted to testify
outside the courtroom from under 12 to under 18; amending Minnesota Statutes
2020, section 595.02, subdivision 4.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 595.02, subdivision 4, is amended to read:

Subd. 4.

Court order.

(a) In a proceeding in which a child less than deleted text begin 12 deleted text end new text begin 18 new text end years of age
is alleging, denying, or describing:

(1) an act of physical abuse or an act of sexual contact or penetration performed with or
on the child or any other person by another; or

(2) an act that constitutes a crime of violence committed against the child or any other
person,

the court may, upon its own motion or upon the motion of any party, order that the testimony
of the child be taken in a room other than the courtroom or in the courtroom and televised
at the same time by closed-circuit equipment, or recorded for later showing to be viewed
by the jury in the proceeding, to minimize the trauma to the child of testifying in the
courtroom setting and, where necessary, to provide a setting more amenable to securing the
child witness's uninhibited, truthful testimony.

(b) At the taking of testimony under this subdivision, only the judge, the attorneys for
the defendant and for the state, any person whose presence would contribute to the welfare
and well-being of the child, persons necessary to operate the recording or closed-circuit
equipment and, in a child protection proceeding under chapter 260 or a dissolution or custody
proceeding under chapter 518, the attorneys for those parties with a right to participate may
be present with the child during the child's testimony.

(c) The court shall permit the defendant in a criminal or delinquency matter to observe
and hear the testimony of the child in person. If the court, upon its own motion or the motion
of any party, finds in a hearing conducted outside the presence of the jury, that the presence
of the defendant during testimony taken pursuant to this subdivision would psychologically
traumatize the witness so as to render the witness unavailable to testify, the court may order
that the testimony be taken in a manner that:

(1) the defendant can see and hear the testimony of the child in person and communicate
with counsel, but the child cannot see or hear the defendant; or

(2) the defendant can see and hear the testimony of the child by video or television
monitor from a separate room and communicate with counsel, but the child cannot see or
hear the defendant.

(d) As used in this subdivision, "crime of violence" has the meaning given it in section
624.712, subdivision 5, and includes violations of section 609.26.