Has anyone ever had to deal with the trial issue of a child victim of sexual abuse getting an abortion? I'm wondering how you handled that in voir dire (if you did at all) and at trial. I know it's a very touchy subject to many people and I don't want the jury to hate this 12 year old because she aborted her stepfather's child. (And yes, DNA shows it's the defendant's baby.) Feel free to respond privately to me if you want.

Jane, we just dealt with that situation. The case pleaded, but we gave a great deal of thought to the issue. I'll call you in a few.

I would have referred to it during vd as a termination, since so many have a negative connotation attached to the word abortion.

I think that within the context of your situation, the panel will be more offended by what led to the pregnancy than what was done to the pregnancy.

Jane,
I had this situation come up a few years back. My victim's family was very, very Catholic as was the vast majority of the jury panel. So we gave it a ton of thought before trial. Ultimately, I just addressed it head-on during voir dire. I talked to the jury about the fact that abortion is one of the most divisive issues in our country, I asked them who considered themselves to be adamantly opposed to abortion? Then asked if their opinions changed at all in cases of rape or incest. Then I asked straight out how they'd feel about a rape victim who got pregnant from the rape and then had an abortion.

I was surprised that I didn't have a single juror - even among the staunchest pro-life folks - who felt that he or she would condemn a rape/sexual abuse victim who had an abortion.

I found that being so direct on voir dire really seemed to take the wind out of the sails of the defense on that issue and it didn't seem like a big deal when it came up during the testimony. During the victim's mom's testimony, I did have her allude to what a difficult decision that was for the family and how they felt they had no choice under the circumstances.

We were going to do exactly what LT said. Just like any other touchy area that might arise in a trial, I always think it is best to steal the thunder of the defense and defuse that bomb before it is activated.

Dang. Sure is much easier to sit back and read what y'all do on paper rather than have to look 60+ folks in the eye and ask those questions. The Warranty and Repair types salute you!