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JUD Committee Hearing Transcript for 03/24/2021

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JUD Committee Hearing Transcript for 03/24/2021 1 March 24, 2021 ib/rr JUDICIARY COMMITTEE 10:00 A.M. CHAIRPERSONS: Senator Gary Winfield, Representative Steve Stafstrom SENATORS: Anwar, Champagne, Flexer, Haskell, Kasser, Lesser, Sampson REPRESENTATIVES: Blumenthal, Callahan, Conley, Currey, Dillon, Doucette, Dubitsky, Fiorello, Fishbein, Fox, Godfrey, Harding, Howard, Labriola, Luxenberg, O'Dea, Palm, Pavalock-D'Amato, Porter, Quinn, Rebimbas, Riley, Veach, Walker, Young REP. STAFSTROM (129TH): Alright, let's get going then. Good morning everyone. I’d like to call to order the March 24th, 2021, Public Hearing of the Judiciary Committee. We have six bills on our agenda for today. We, again, have a relatively lengthy list of speakers, and we certainly want to respect the public's time to get to folks as expeditiously as we can. So, we will ask folks to stick to three minutes in their testimony. If you’ve submitted a written testimony, you can feel free to just summarize it. If you're on the Zoom link, you will see a hand go up that says timer when you've reached your three minutes, and I will try to get your attention to ask you to wrap up after three minutes, so that we can get to everybody. And again, I’ll ask Members to try to be as judicious as you can with questions, as well. Alright, with that, our first speaker will be Sharmese Walcott. SHARMESE WALCOTT: Good morning. REP. STAFSTROM (129TH): Good morning, madam, go ahead. 2 March 24, 2021 ib/rr JUDICIARY COMMITTEE 10:00 A.M. SHARMESE WALCOTT: Thank you. Senator Winfield, Representative Stafstrom, Ranking Members Kissel and Fishbein and Distinguished Members of the Judiciary Committee, my name is Sharmese Walcott, and I’m the State's Attorney for the Hartford District -- State’s Attorney for the District of Hartford. On behalf of the Division of Criminal Justice, I thank you for allowing me this afternoon to testify. The Division has submitted written testimony in support of SBSB 6, AN ACT CONCERNING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORMS, but I would like to use my time to testify on HBHB 6657, AN ACT CONCERNING HUMAN TRAFFICKING. The Division is extremely supportive of anti-trafficking efforts. We have participated in programming, served on panels and are committed to increased training to expand our Prosecutors’ awareness and knowledge of trafficking. I personally have served as a Division's Representative on the Trafficking in Persons Council, and I’ve taken part in extensive discussions regarding the expansion of our Vacatur Statute for victims of trafficking. Those discussions included debates on the use of 'may' and 'shall', whether a standard of proof should be included in the Statute and what offenses should be eligible for vacaturs. In the end, after months of these discussions, the TIP Council unanimously approved draft Legislation that subsequently became HB 6657, with one great exception. In the version drafted and voted on by the TIP Council, Section 7 stated that victims of trafficking could seek to have convictions for any crimes vacated, except the most serious in our penal code, which is A and B felonies. In the Bill before the Committee now, any and all convictions are eligible for vacaturs, including Class A and B felonies. The inclusion of A and B felonies sends the wrong message to traffickers, 3 March 24, 2021 ib/rr JUDICIARY COMMITTEE 10:00 A.M. their victims, and the victims of crimes committed by the trafficked person. We’ve heard from trafficking victims that is very common for the traffickers to force them to commit crimes or take responsibility for crimes committed by the trafficker. A common example is having the victim hold the trafficker's drugs when they saw police approaching. If traffickers know that their victims can have all their convictions vacated, they will use that to their advantage and force or convince the victims to commit even more serious crimes. The language as presented discourages the use of duress, discourages trafficked persons from disclosing their status to their lawyer, the Court, or the prosecutor. It will encourage trials. This will be inconsistent with justice for the victims of violent A and B felony crimes and the family that often accompany a case through the criminal justice system. The Division applauds the work of the TIP Council and the drafting of this Legislation. We urge the Committee to amend Section 7 of HB 6657 to reflect the language that was unanimously voted on by the Council. With the language proposed by the TIP Council, which broadens the Vacatur Statute by eliminating the requirement that the victims have a prostitution conviction, is a giant step forward and will allow for many victims of trafficking to be eligible. With that, I’m happy to answer any questions the Committee may have. REP. STAFSTROM (129TH): Thank you, Sharmese Walcott. Representative Gilchrest. REP. GILCHREST (18TH): Thank you, Mr. Chair. So good to see you, Miss Walcott, and thank you for all of your tremendous work on the Trafficking in Persons Council. Thank you for recognizing, you know, that this Bill does have different language 4 March 24, 2021 ib/rr JUDICIARY COMMITTEE 10:00 A.M. than the language that was recommended by the Trafficking in Persons Council. In our discussions at the Council table, we discussed how sometimes there are victims of trafficking who are then made to traffic other individuals, and so part of our hope is to capture that group of people. With being opposed to including A and B felonies, I guess, in your reading of this section, the Judge would still have discretion, correct? SHARMESE WALCOTT: The Judge would still have discretion following a hearing. The Division would not be opposed to excluding A and B felonies except for the crime of trafficking. It's a bit wordy, but I think that accomplishes what the -- what you're summarizing the discussion to be, right? By excluding all A and B felonies, we exclude the crime of trafficking from being eligible for vacatur. Instead, I say, let's exclude A and B felonies, but include the crime of trafficking to be eligible for vacatur. REP. GILCHREST (18TH): Thank you for that clarification and thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. Chair. REP. STAFSTROM (129TH): Further questions or comments from the Committee? Seeing none, appreciate you being with us and submitting your testimony. SHARMESE WALCOTT: Thank you. REP. STAFSTROM (129TH): Next up will be Kailani Carlson. KAILANI CARLSON: Hello. REP. STAFSTROM (129TH): How you doing, madam? KAILANI CARLSON: Hi, how are you today? 5 March 24, 2021 ib/rr JUDICIARY COMMITTEE 10:00 A.M. REP. STAFSTROM (129TH): Good. We can hear you, but we can't see you. KAILANI CARLSON: Am I being called to speak right now? REP. STAFSTROM (129TH): Yeah. KAILANI CARLSON: We were told that we are number two on the list. REP. STAFSTROM (129TH): Right, that we just went through -- We just went through the first one and-- KAILANI CARLSON: Oh, you did. Okay, hold on one second, trying to open up my video, I’m sorry. REP. STAFSTROM (129TH): We can give you a minute and come back to you, if you want. KAILANI CARLSON: That would be -- that would be great if I could get called next. If that would be okay. REP. STAFSTROM (129TH): Sure, we're going to jump to Christine Cocch-- Cocchiola. Sorry about that. Madam, you’re on mute, still. CHRISTINE COCCHIOLA: Good morning, Distinguished Members of the Judiciary Committee, my name is Christine Cocchiola. I’m a mom, college professor, licensed clinical social worker, and an IPD advocate volunteer of Greater Waterbury since the age of 19. I’m also a victim of coercive control, yet I did not recognize this victimization throughout much of my 26-year marriage. Most importantly, I did not recognize the victimization of my own children. In a home where gaslighting, manipulation, diminishing of autonomy, are consistent and repetitive, then it makes sense the child's experiences are that of been gaslighted, 6 March 24, 2021 ib/rr JUDICIARY COMMITTEE 10:00 A.M. manipulated and having diminished autonomy. When a child is told that their mother is crazy, or that there is no money, or in the case of my children, the car keys are on the counter when all along the car keys were hidden, so that my children cannot visit me, this is coercive control. This use of power and control to harm another human being and, in this case, a child, a vulnerable and human dependent upon adult caretakers, creates a need for these child victims to learn early on to regulate their behavior in order to prevent the ramifications of the abusive parent. This may often mean turning against a healthy parent and an attempt, in an effort, to ensure that the offending parent does not turn on the child themselves. Children know this pattern well as they have seen this played out between the abuser and the adult victim. This coercive control, the use of the children as pawns, is a significant psychological trauma and victimization of a child, creating complex post-traumatic stress disorder, not easily understood or identified. Again, this abuse is most often not physical, so it's not identified by the adult victim, by outsiders, and certainly not by child victims. The significant impact to a child's development and sense of self is evident. My experiences, among many, included constantly wondering what I was doing wrong, how I can make things better, walking on eggshells, and yet knowing he seemed to always know my every move. I later found out that my car was tracked, my computer hacked and my phone monitored for years.
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