Child testimony proposals pass

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Pennsylvania voters approved a pair of amendments to the state Constitution that are designed to allow children to testify by closed-circuit television or videotape.
Returns from 97 percent of precincts showed the proposals being approved by margins of more than 2-1 Tuesday.
Supporters say such testimony, which is already allowed in 35 other states, would protect child witnesses from the trauma of appearing in a courtroom with a defendant who, in many cases, is accused of victimizing the child.
State Attorney General Mike Fisher said the passage of the amendment will help protect children in sexual assault cases.
"A victory for the people and a victory for the criminal justice system," he said Tuesday night.
State voters overwhelmingly approved a nearly identical ballot measure in 1995, only to have it later thrown out on appeal, in part because it encompassed two distinct elements in a single ballot question.
Two questions
This time, it took the form of two separate questions.
The first asked whether the constitution should be changed to "provide that a person accused of a crime has the right to be 'confronted with the witnesses against him,' instead of the right to 'meet the witnesses face to face.'"
That proposal was backed by 1,177,481 voters, or 68 percent.
The second question concerns whether the General Assembly should have authority to write laws governing "the manner by which children may testify in criminal proceedings, including the use of videotaped depositions or testimony by closed-circuit television."
The second proposal was supported by 1,411,727 votes, or 80 percent.
A group of three defense attorneys unsuccessfully sought to block the vote, although their lawsuit in Commonwealth Court is still pending.
The plaintiffs said, among other things, that the changes could allow adults as well as children to testify outside court, that they infringe on the state judiciary's power to regulate courts and that they would result in an increased rate of wrongful convictions.