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Committee backs expanding closed‑circuit testimony option to more child witnesses
Summary
Senate committee voted to report House Bill 3338, which would broaden eligibility for child witnesses to testify by closed‑circuit television beyond current limitations tied only to certain crime victims.
A Senate committee voted to report House Bill 3338 to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation after counsel said the bill would broaden the circumstances in which a child witness can testify by closed‑circuit television.
Committee counsel explained that current West Virginia law allows prosecutors or guardians ad litem to petition for closed‑circuit testimony for a child witness only when the child is a victim of a specified category of crime; the proposed change would permit any child witness to be evaluated for the accommodation.
Counsel said the state's existing statute was modeled on a U.S. Supreme Court case decided in 1990 and that the bill would remove the requirement that the child be the victim of certain crimes before seeking closed‑circuit testimony. The vice chair moved the bill to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass; the chair called the voice vote and declared the motion adopted.
The change would allow trial courts, working with prosecutors and guardians ad litem, to consider closed‑circuit testimony for child witnesses more broadly. Committee members had no amendments or further questions for counsel during the hearing.
