A pro se defendant is charged with sexually assaulting his young daughter. Any tips on mitigating the trauma she is about to face by being questioned by her (alleged) abuser/father? If so, please share them here.

Can't a court appoint an attorney "in the interest of justice" even when a defendant is representing him/herself? This seems like that would be one of those circumstances where justice would demand it.

The Judge can and should appoint an attorney as as second chair but if the person is competent to represent themself and insists on it, the Judge can't prevent that.

I would file motions requesting the Court to order the Defendant to ask all of his questions from counsel table and to not approach the child unless absolutely required. Depending on the age of the child and their psychological/emotional state this might be the kind of thing that would push the issue over the edge and allow you to justify testimony via closed circuit television. You would definitely need some testimony from a medical professional who can testify to the trauma that this will cause the child.

I would have Dr. Lee Carter or some other similarly qualified expert sit in on the cross of the child victim by her pro se father, then have them testify to the dynamics raised by such a situation. I would also ask to have a stand by attorney/second chair appointed by the court.

I'd also vd the heck out of the jury on related questions, as close as the judge would let me get to the issue. How would you feel if you were a child victim of sexual assault and the defendant was your father and representing himself and would have the opportunity to cross examine you?
How would that affect your ability to testify?

I thought I had seen it all in these types of cases until this post, Shannon.

We just had that very situation last week. I addressed it in voir dire and explained that when a defendant chooses to represent himself, it means that in a child molestation case, he will be cross-examining his victims. Several panel members had a very strong reaction to this. I think that got in the defendant's head. He wound up asking the victims very few questions--and just wanted to look like a nice guy in front of the jury. Both victims left feeling empowered--that they had faced him down in court.

We Had this situation arise in a trail that ultimately plead out. We let the child's counselor start preparing her for this as soon as we thought it was a possibility. I agree with the uriging of close circuit tv.

As a follow-up, here is a recent NDAA article providing suggestions on how to deal with this situation:

A Secondary Offense Worth Preventing:
Restricting the Pro Se Defendant’s Ability to
Personally Question Child Abuse Victim