HB 9: "An Act relating to the right of crime victims and victims of juvenile offenses to be present at court proceedings; and amending Rule 615, Alaska Rules of Evidence."
00HOUSE BILL NO. 9 01 "An Act relating to the right of crime victims and victims of juvenile offenses 02 to be present at court proceedings; and amending Rule 615, Alaska Rules of 03 Evidence." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. PURPOSE. The purpose of this Act is to clarify that the right of crime 06 victims "to be present at all criminal or juvenile proceedings where the accused has the right 07 to be present," which is a right protected under art. I, sec. 24, of the state constitution, may 08 not be abridged by the sequestration rule applicable to most witnesses. 09 * Sec. 2. AS 09.20.180 is amended to read: 10 Sec. 09.20.180. Exclusion of witnesses from courtroom. Except as 11 provided in AS 12.50.200 and AS 47.12.110(b), upon [UPON] the request of either 12 party the judge may exclude from the courtroom any witness of the adverse party not 13 under examination at the time so that the witness may not hear the testimony of other 14 witnesses.
01 * Sec. 3. AS 12.50 is amended by adding a new section to read: 02 Article 3. Victim Witnesses. 03 Sec. 12.50.200. Victim may not be excluded from courtroom. A court may 04 not exclude the victim of an alleged crime from the courtroom during testimony that 05 occurs when the accused has the right to be present even if the victim is likely to be 06 called as a subsequent witness. 07 * Sec. 4. AS 47.12.110(b) is amended to read: 08 (b) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, the victim of an offense that a minor 09 is alleged to have committed, or the designee of the victim, has a right to be present 10 at all hearings held under this section. If the minor is found to have committed the 11 offense, the victim may at the disposition hearing give sworn testimony or make an 12 unsworn oral presentation concerning the offense and its effect on the victim. If there 13 are numerous victims of a minor's offense, the court may limit the number of victims 14 who may give sworn testimony or make an unsworn oral presentation, but the court 15 may not limit the right of a victim to attend a hearing even if the victim is likely to 16 be a witness in a hearing concerning the minor's alleged offense. 17 * Sec. 5. Rule 615, Alaska Rules of Evidence, is amended to read: 18 Rule 615. Exclusion of Witnesses. At the request of a party the court may 19 order witnesses excluded so that they cannot hear the testimony of other witnesses, and 20 it may make the order on its own motion. This rule does not authorize exclusion of 21 (1) a party who is a natural person; [, OR] 22 (2) an officer or employee of a party which is not a natural person 23 designated as its representative by its attorney; [, OR] 24 (3) a person whose presence is shown by a party to be important to the 25 presentation of the party's [HIS] cause; or 26 (4) the victim of the alleged crime or juvenile offense during 27 criminal or juvenile proceedings when the accused has the right to be present. 28 * Sec. 6. COURT RULE CHANGE. Sections 2 - 5 of this Act have the effect of 29 amending Rule 615, Alaska Rules of Evidence, by making the witness exclusion rule 30 inapplicable to victims of offenses. 31 * Sec. 7. APPLICABILITY. This Act applies to a criminal or juvenile hearing held on or
01 after the effective date of this Act, regardless of when the criminal or juvenile proceeding 02 commenced. 03 * Sec. 8. This Act takes effect only if sec. 6 of this Act receives the two-thirds majority 04 vote of each house required by art. IV, sec. 15, Constitution of the State of Alaska.