Opinion ID: 2514227
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the victim's advocate

Text: ¶ 7 It is established law in Utah that a witness of tender years may be accompanied by an adult to ease the emotional turmoil of testifying in court. See State v. Keeley, 8 Utah 2d 70, 71-72, 328 P.2d 724, 725 (1958). This practice is one legitimately within the trial court's inherent powers. Neither party has identified, nor do we find express authority for or limitation of, this practice either in statute or in court rule. [2] ¶ 8 In this case, the victim was within a month of her eighteenth birthday at the time of trial. The prosecutor asked the trial court for permission to have the victim's advocate sit near A.G. at the time of her testimony to give her a sense of comfort. Defendant objected, arguing that A.G.'s birthday was only two weeks away, that there had been no showing of necessity for the presence of the victim's advocate, and that the requested arrangement presented the possibility of non-verbal communication between the advocate and the victim. In response, the prosecutor said that he had talked with A.G. and that she did not particularly care either way about having the victim's advocate sit near her during her testimony. ¶ 9 The trial court overruled defendant's objection, because it determined that it was common practice to have a victim's advocate sit with a minor called to testify if they choose, so long as the adult did not prompt testimony in any way. The trial court further indicated that because of the physical arrangement of the courtroom, any inappropriate behavior by the victim's advocate would be obvious to the court, and would be dealt with appropriately. Consequently, the trial court exercised its inherent powers to control and manage the trial process and allowed the victim's advocate to sit near A.G. as she testified. ¶ 10 Defendant now argues that the very presence of the victim's advocate creates an improper and impermissible suggestion to the jury that A.G.'s testimony was more truthful than it would otherwise have been perceived by the jury without the victim's advocate present. However, defendant alleges no inappropriate behavior by the victim's advocate during A.G.'s testimony, nor is any revealed by our review of the trial record. As a result, we find no error in permitting the victim's advocate to sit near A.G. during her testimony. The practice of allowing a victim's advocate to accompany and sit near a minor victim during trial testimony is not inherently prejudicial to defendant, and defendant has made no showing of actual prejudice. ¶ 11 However, where A.G. apparently did not particularly care about having the victim's advocate nearby, and where A.G. was within two weeks of majority, the presence of the victim's advocate appears to have served little purpose. Although permitting the victim's advocate to sit nearby was clearly within the broad discretion afforded the trial court in managing the proceedings, any presumption that allowing such an advocate to accompany A.G. under these circumstances was required would be in error. The trial court just as easily could have denied the request of the prosecutor under these circumstances without committing error. ¶ 12 Clearly, the need for a victim's advocate or other support person to accompany a witness while testifying decreases with the increasing maturity of the witness. However, absent a showing of prejudice, the matter is one best left to the sound discretion of the trial court after taking into consideration the age, maturity, emotional stability, and rigors facing a particular child witness, among other factors. These must be weighed against any appearance of inappropriate bolstering of the testimony by the presence of the support person, and any likelihood of interference with the testimony. While A.G. may not have been a witness of tender years entitled to, or needing, the support of another nearby while testifying, the record discloses no factors other than her chronological age upon which we may independently review the propriety of the court's decision. As such, we defer to the trial court, assuming other factors were evident upon which it relied. We decline defendant's invitation to say that being nearly eighteen years old excludes A.G. from this category as a matter of law.