Failure to Appear: Rethinking Victim Participation in Court

David Weiss, Chief of the Human Trafficking Unit at the Brooklyn DA’s Office, joins us to discuss how evidence-based strategies can reduce reliance on victim testimony while protecting victim dignity in the courtroom. He also shares that, in doing so, prosecutors can build survivor-centered cases, whether or not survivors are able to participate. Trafficking prosecutions often collapse when survivors can’t participate. We discuss how trauma responses are often misunderstood as resistance, how the misguided concept of “cooperation” can distort justice for trafficking survivors, why non-participation is frequently a predictable trauma reaction, and how prosecutors can reframe those behaviors for juries. For more detailed considerations about preparing a case for a forfeiture by wrongdoing motion:AEquitas, What is Forfeiture by Wrongdoing available here: AEquitas, Forfeiture by Wrongdoing, THE PROSECUTORS’ RESOURCE (2012) available here. For more information on preparing human trafficking cases with nonparticipating victims see here. For more information on using experts in human trafficking cases, go to Webinar by International Association of Chiefs of Police and AEquitas, Working with Experts to Combat Common Defenses in Human Trafficking Cases, International Association Of Chiefs Of Police, or Webinar by International Association of Chiefs of Police, Jane Anderson, and Miiko Anderson, Prosecution Foundations: Educating the Judge and Jury About the Realities of Human Trafficking.This podcast discusses the violent crime of human trafficking and related crimes of sexual violence, domestic violence, and stalking. If you need support, please call: The National Domestic Violence Hotline, RAINN, and The Human Trafficking Hotline.If you'd like more info about AEquitas visit: https://aequitasresource.org/ or email us at: [email protected]. Follow AEquitas on Instagram @aequitas_resource