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Prosecutors can still pursue domestic violence cases without victim testimony or cooperation. I recently sat in on a conference where a prosecutor from San Diego, Marnie Layon, gave examples of viable post-Crawford evidence: a victim’s demeanor, a platter of food spilled across the floor, independent witness observation, frantic calls or text messages to family and friends for help, social media posts...
Today, 'what I’ve seen in prosecutors’ units is domestic violence fatigue,' Ms. Gardner said. Crawford doesn’t make prosecution impossible, but it makes things 'complicated, too nuanced,' she added. 'We’re kind of going backward.' Perpetrators, she said, 'are not being prosecuted as often as they could and should be.'
In other words, 'the barrier to evidence-based prosecution is not about evidence,' as Mr. Gwinn told me not long ago. It never really was. It’s about the kind of violence that is deemed worthy of state attention
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