Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

“Sometimes the dog means the difference between a conviction and an acquittal”

Prosecutors bring in adorable “therapy dogs” to assist witnesses in rape and abuse trials. Aside from the jury sympathy issue, and the possible sending of “this is a victim” signals, defense lawyers argue that the dogs’ presence makes testimony easier whether accusations are true or not: “They argue that as a therapy dog, Rosie responds to people under stress by comforting them, whether the stress comes from confronting a guilty defendant or lying under oath.” [N.Y. Times] More: Greenfield.

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4 Comments

  • I’ve seen this done before with therapy dogs, as well as with other service dogs, and the visual effect is less than you might think. The dog is in the witness box, and does little more than sit in the floor next to the witness, at most laying it’s head on her lap or giving her a comforting like on the ankle, all if which us hidden from the jurors’ view. The judge will give a bland explanation/instruction (whenever any service dog is present) along the lines of, “You may notice that the witness has brought a service animal with her….”, the implication being this could be a seeing-eye dog, an allergy dog, a seizure dog, etc. It’s really been a non-issue, at least for the non cat-people jurors.

    • By CJohn

  • If the argument is that the dog responds to stress, then isn’t the dog acting as a stress detector? If the jury can tell when the dog reacts, then the jury is being told when to think the witness is under stress and, by implication, when to think the witness is not under stress.

    If the jury can see the dog, that’s a huge problem.

  • I’m more concerned about the psychological impact on the witness. It can make it easier for a stressed witness to testify, but it can also make it easier for a liar to lie.

    As a juror, I would be suspicious of a witness with an anxiety dog, but most jurors would probably go the other way. No worries, they won’t allow me within 1,000 metres of a jury room. đŸ™‚

    • By Mannie

  • I love dogs, but seeing an alleged victim pull a stunt like that would cause me to discount everything she says. Fortunately, I have never been picked for a jury.

    • By robert