Its a case a question of law in New York that may break new legal ground there. If the dog is allowed to be present at the trial, it would mark the first time in New York that a so-called “companion animal” would be permitted to accompany a witness during a trial. Rose an 11-year-old golden retriever trained to help young children ease their stress may get the chance to put the skills she has honed working at Green Chimneys, a school for emotionally disturbed children in Putnam County to work in a Dutchess County courtroom next month.
Rose visited the courtroom on Wednesday afternoon before Judge Stephen L. Greller. The judge wanted to see exactly what the dog would be doing in the courtroom and how it would behave before making any ruling. Rose spent most of the two-hour hearing, centered around the case she has been called in to help on, dozing under the prosecution table
The reason why they want a dog in the courtroom with the witness is that the girl typically “shuts down emotionally and has difficulty expressing herself when asked to speak about the events in question. After spending some time with Rose the girl seemed less nervous was more calm and able to talk about what happened.
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20110526/NEWS05/105260332/County-Court-judge-considers-letting-dog-calm-witness-trial?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|PoughkeepsieJournal.com
What an amazing dog. I sure hope this judge does the right thing, and allows Rise into the hearing…
The judge is an arrogant son of a b@$& with very strict conservative views who enjoys seeing people punished and in distress. I personally was recently contacted by a small crew who is doing a segment on this sad excuse for a human being, for a documentary called Abuse of Power. He and several scum cops from Troop K headquarters are subjects of this documentary. I personally declined, but have offered my services as an assistant to the production, bc people need to know about these creeps.