Transcript Making Justice Accessible - Community Networks of

Witness Support, Preparation & Profiling.
Mark Pathak – Social Worker
(Citysafe Strategy Business Unit, Liverpool City Council)
ISU/LCC
©ISU/LCC
The Investigations
Support Unit
Principal areas of activity.
 Admin Support and Legal liaison.
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Managing “Consolidated List/RTC”
notifications.
Risk assessment and information
management – sexually exploited young
people.
Witness Support, Preparation and
Profiling offered to vulnerable witness.
©ISU/LCC
The Liverpool Experience
My Starting Point:
 True experiences.
 1996 and Operation Care.
 My secondment.
 Witness Support from Operation Care.
The National Picture:
 “Barriers to Justice” (November 1997).
 “Speaking Up For Justice Agenda”.
 “Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act (1999)”.
 “No Secrets” – Adult Protection.
The Liverpool Picture:
 In first 18 trials, Measures to Assist granted by
judicial discretion.
 Tri-partite Protocol (CPS-Police-ISU) & Crown Ct
Protocol.
“Barriers to Justice” (Mencap, November 1997)
1. Crimes are committed but never reported:
 Do not consider action as a crime.
 Tell a figure of authority who take it no further.
2. Once at the Police station: Police Officers said…
 Only 35% have had any training about intellectual
disability. (Only 26% of these thought it was any good).
 71% said the training they had received was not helpful.
3. To prosecute or not to prosecute?:
 Every year there are 1400 cases of sexual abuse against
people with intellectual disabilities.
 Of 248 cases, only 63 investigated, 2 went to court (less
than 1%), with only 1 conviction (½%)
 CPS rely on the police to assess a persons abilities.
4.See you in court: Barristers said…
 96% did not receive initial training on intellectual
disabilities and only 8% had received such training since
qualifying at the bar.
 90% saw the benefits of court preparation prior to trial.
 76% thought they could be reliable witnesses.
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Special Measures.
(Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999)
Screening witness from the accused.
Evidence by live link.
Evidence in private (court cleared).
Removal of wigs.
Video recorded evidence-in-chief.
Aids to communication.
Video recorded cross-examination or reexamination (Not commenced as yet).
Examination of witness through an
intermediary.
©ISU/LCC
Why few trials nationally?
On a personal level: “They always tell lies”
 “They make things up”
 “Abuse does not really hurt them”
At a service/staff level: “Our staff are not trained or are not specialist
interviewers”
 “This is best dealt with on an in-house basis”
 “It will be too hard to get the case to court”
At a trial level: “The experience will be far too damaging”
 “They will change their story”
 “The Barristers and Judges don’t really
understand the issues”
 “You can get them to say anything”
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“Michael”
1 : 4 : 29
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“Michael”
“Well everybody was getting
abused left right and centre.
Half the lads were getting
battered. I was getting battered
as well. I got damage at the back
end, front end, the mouth as well.
I got really I got damage all over
my body. Half the time I could
not sit down”.
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“Michael”
“I told people in the past and
nobody would listen to me so
I said I might as well forget
about it because nobody was
going to listen. Right, if you
would have told anybody you
would have got a good
hiding”.
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What were the Barriers in Liverpool?
Basis of police decision making:Stereotypes
Homogeneity
Protective stance
Basis of Crown Prosecution Service decision
making:Stereotypes
Homogeneity
Protective stance
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Support and Preparation
of Witness.
What
information,
understanding,
skills
does a witness need to learn or develop?
©ISU/LCC
information
 Who
is going to be there?................
 Who does what?
 When is the date?
 What is the name of the Judge? The
Barrister?
 What does the court room look like?
 How should I behave in court?
 What are the procedures in court?....
©ISU/LCC
What are the procedures in court?....
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Telling the truth.
Taking the oath.
Giving your evidence.
Cross-examination.
Leading questions vs. open questions.
(Prosecution vs. defence)
Getting stuck.
What if you do not understand a question?
Asking for a break.
Acquiescence.
Confabulation.
Getting upset.
My support.
Special Measures.
Witness Profile.
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Understanding.
(correcting misconceptions)
 It’s like TV.
 I’ve given my statement, why do I need to
go to court?
 Can’t you read out my statement?
 I have to say it out loud!!
 I will sit across the table from the
defendant.
 The defendant will be able to talk to me.
      
The process is slow, the CJS is slow.
 It’s like a jigsaw.
 It will be hard.
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Skills.
 PLD
are not used to questioning
staff. Staff have all the power.
 “I
don’t know” versus “I don’t
understand”.
 Saying
“I want a break”.
 Coping
with pressure.
Support and Preparation of Witness.
Covers a range of information, understanding and
skills that a witness needs to absorb.
Varies from witness to witness. But we have devised some
rules of thumb:
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Witness with intellectual disabilities need to know
what to expect in court and what is going to
happen to them.
Witnesses with intellectual disabilities learn best
when they need to learn and when it is learnt in
the place where the learning and knowledge will
be used.
Witnesses with intellectual disabilities absorb and
internalise information best when it is offered and
taught by credible professionals.
Witnesses with intellectual disabilities have lives
alongside and beyond their court preparation and
appearance in court.
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Other Players and their Roles
1.
Police Officers.
2.
C.P.S. lawyers.
3.
Social Workers.
4.
Carers / Support workers.
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Witness Preparation
The Witness
The System
No coaching
Statement/evidence issues
Explaining the process
Stereotypes and
homogeneity
Assessment as a witness
Identifying and reducing
obstacles.
“This witness in this trial”
Special Measures
application and orders at
PCMH.
©ISU/LCC
How do Witness Profiles help…
…people with Intellectual Disabilities?
…people in the Criminal Justice
System?
“The judge does know I can’t
read?”
Police:“What if they clam up”
“I can have a break can’t I?”
C.P.S:“Will they make a good witness?”
“It will be okay if I cry won’t it?”
Barristers:“Will they give Best Evidence?”
“You will sit next to me won’t
you?”
Judges:“Will this allow a fair trial?”
The Witness Profile
1.
2.
Introduction
Special Measures
(As Under The Youth Justice & Criminal Evidence Act 1999)
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Measures to assist
Medical needs
Appearance and Personality
General functional skills
Comprehension
Concentration
Communication
Vocabulary
Advice to Counsel:
(i)
When asking questions
(ii)
When questions are answered
12. Conclusion.
“Paul”
Measures to assist
• Paul is likely to need breaks every 20 minutes, in
order to use the lavatory.
• There are times when other people find it difficult
to understand what Paul has said. Paul
understands that he alone can give his evidence.
However if there are words which are unclear, I
would be prepared to repeat them, for
clarification, if so directed by the court.
General Functional Skills
• Paul presents himself as a "streetwise" and able
man, possessing a range of skills. In reality many
of these skills are superficial. His verbal skills are
not matched by his performance skills.
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“Paul”
Communication
• Paul swallows hard and regularly and this disrupts
his speech.
• When Paul is asked to repeat what he has said, he
will do so but will reduce the complexity of the
sentence.
• However Paul gets annoyed if asked to repeat an
answer too many times because he has not been
understood. One way to help avoid this is to say “I
missed that Paul can you say it again?” and use a
word or words that Paul has used to prompt him.
©ISU/LCC
“Paul”….cont’d
Comprehension
• He wants to understand what is going on
around him and he finds it difficult to say,
“I do not understand”. He will give a
totally inappropriate answer with an
expression of defeat on his face rather
than admit he does not understand.
• Because of this Paul needs permission to
say “I don't understand” and should be
reminded not to guess if he does not know
the answer.
©ISU/LCC
“Paul”….cont’d
Comprehension cont.
• When confused, Paul will look down and lift his
hands (cupping one hand with the other) to his
mouth and will bite the top of his thumb-nail and
seem to be reflecting.
• When he is thinking, Paul sits back and shrinks
into his chair and then crosses his arms. At this
point he will either answer the question or
indicate that he cannot do so.
• If he taps the side of his head, laughs and says
something about his brain not working properly,
he is using this to cover up the fact that he does
not know the answer or he is confused. In these
circumstances, offer him a break or change the
line of questioning.
©ISU/LCC
Application for ”measures to assist” in the trial.
Involves a thorough and detailed:analysis

problem solving strategies
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framework for action
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(i) identification of Measures to
Assist
(ii) identification of Special
Measures (YJ&CEA).
©ISU/LCC
Application for ”measures to assist” in the trial.
Argue why they are needed compared
to "I'll apply because you have a
intellectual disability":
 assumptions – is the special
measure the necessary/appropriate
one?
 choice,
 check out with or ask the witness.
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Special Measures or
Additional Measures to Assist?
Its about a….
Its about a:
Person Centred
Approach
Vs. Process Centred
Approach
I never said I wanted
that,
Vs.
I said I wanted this!
I got you that …
why didn't it work?
©ISU/LCC
Closure Work?
C.I.C.A.? Civil action?
It’s goodbye to Witness Services.
It’s goodbye to the court room.
It’s goodbye to the court building.
Some reminiscing about change.
It’s goodbye to Mark.
and………
It’s back to my life now.
Internal “lessons learnt” review.
(Future contact?)
©ISU/LCC
So remember,
It is the individual witness who shapes the profile,
not vice versa.
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The profile is used to change or affect the
Criminal Justice system, with particular
reference to assumptions held by it.
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The profile, when drafted, is a distillate of the
support and preparation process,
not an end to itself.
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The best person to produce the Witness Profile
is the person doing the preparation work.
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The process is a dynamic one. The profile becomes
a “live” piece of work that develops
as the person responds to being a witness.
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©ISU/LCC
Contact details:
Mark Pathak – Social worker
Investigations Support Unit
(CitySafe Strategy Business Unit)
Liverpool City Council
Tel: - 0151-233-4987
E-mail:
[email protected]