Hi everyone. As everyone knows, the year 2020 was defined by a series of events, many of which linger to this day. Covid-19, as devastating as it and government efforts to curb it have been, may have been eclipsed for a time by the reporting and riots which ensued after the horrific death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers in the USA.
Last week, the tension of a 3-week trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd ended with a guilty verdict. Actually 3 verdicts because Chauvin was found guilty on all 3 counts of the indictment against him.
One key factor in the prosecution case was evidence led from a child and teenagers who witnessed the brutal event.
However, insoafar as the possible effect on those child witnesses of what they had seen and were asked to relive for the trial, here is what Gabriel Elizondo of Al Jazeera wrote at the end of the first week of the trial:
"Of the 19 people who testified in the first week of the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, 10 were bystanders on the scene as Black American George Floyd died. And of those, four were teenagers and one was a nine-year-old girl, highlighting how the jury was asked to relive the incident through the eyes of young people.
Their testimony in the courtroom was often riveting, distressing and raw and could define their young lives for years to come.
For each, it was clear the trauma of bearing witness to Floyd’s death up close and having to relive in court was a trauma they now live with."
That statement sounds like witnessing the death of George Floyd is definitely an example of an Adverse Childhood Experience.
We do not mean to fan the flame here but a critical question we may need to ask in future is "How can we reduce the extent to which we put minors at risk of emotional harm by having them relive traumatic events as witnesses in our judicial system?"
On the issue of the trauma experienced by witnesses in criminal proceedings, Al Jazeera's Gabriel Elizondo quotes Mark Osler, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches law at the University of St Thomas. “The trauma the witnesses are recounting is not just one big thing but a cascade of little things as well.”
Osler told Al Jazeera he was surprised prosecutors called a minor to testify.
“I think the government made a mistake calling a nine year old to testify about a really traumatic experience,” he said. “They could have made their case without doing that. The role of the government should be to protect people from trauma and they run the danger of re-traumatising a child in that way when it isn’t necessary. I think that was a mistake.”
Without a doubt, a win for the prosecution was what many people around the world wanted. We cannot help but question whether the possible fallout for the minors called upon to testify was taken into account and hope they are provided with free and effective mental and emotional support for decades to come.
We are reminded that there remain 3 other defendants to face trial for the death of George Floyd. One wonders if the same minors will be required to relive the trauma of that fateful day in that later trial.
Read the full Al Jazeera article from 5th April 2021 here - https://www.aljazeera.com/news...loyds-death-in-court
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