Comfort Dogs Can Accompany Witnesses in Pennsylvania Criminal Trials

The Supreme Court has ruled that Pennsylvania judges can now allow witnesses to be accompanied by comfort dogs when testifying in court during criminal trials. This decision started when a witness with autism used an emotional support dog to take a stand in a murder trial.

This ruling comes with a condition: The animal must not interfere with the defendant’s right to a fair trial. There are defense attorneys that argue that having a dog beside a witness can make the jury sympathetic to the testifying person and creating a prejudice against the defendant.

One strategy that counters this argument is to hide the dog on the witness stand during the trial. This was done during a Chester County murder case and has proven that the use of comfort dogs does not influence a jury’s decision.

Pennsylvania now joins Maryland, Michigan, Virginia, and Connecticut as one of the states that permits the use of comfort dogs in their courtrooms.

Source: PHILLY VOICE

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