Pre-Trial Cross Examination of Vulnerable and Child Witnesses in New Zealand

Abstract

A terminally ill person who doctors predict has one to two months to live is the State’s pivotal witness in an armed robbery and murder case. The prosecutor knows that the case will be at least six months before it comes to trial no matter what he does to rush it through, and if the witness does not live long enough to give evidence in the case, the case will fall apart, and a suspected murderer will walk. What can be done in this situation? This paper will look at pre-trial cross examination in criminal cases in New Zealand. The goal of this paper is to review the use of pre-trial cross examination in New Zealand and determine if the law is doing all it can to allow for and support the gathering of the highest quality cross examination evidence from both vulnerable and child witnesses in criminal cases, while at the same time working to minimize the harm caused to these witnesses.