PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A coalition of nonprofit interest groups wants the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to allow witnesses to have comfort dogs in the courtroom while testifying.
Pennsylvania and 40 other states have allowed vulnerable witnesses like children to use comfort dogs in specific cases. However, Pennsylvania law has nothing on the books defining whether such dogs officially can, or can't, be used in court.
Attorneys Karl Myers and Melissa Perry of Philadelphia law firm Stradley Ronon have filed a brief with the commonwealth's highest court. The brief asks justices to embrace the use of comfort dogs to aid witnesses in the state's courtrooms.
Myers and Perry represent the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Association of Prosecuting Attorneys and Lutheran Church Charities in filing the brief.
“Courtrooms and courthouses are very intimidating places for people who are not there often, and for testifying witnesses it can be very nerve-racking. It can be very anxiety-inducing,” Myers said. "We think the courts and legal profession should take steps to make it a more comforting experience."
Myers believes that comfort dogs offer an added benefit of enhancing the truth-seeking process.
“If a witness is more relaxed, if a witness is more comfortable, then that witness is more likely to be relaxed, forthright and willing to testify truthfully rather than clam up," Myers said.
The opposition argues that comfort dogs could be a distraction to the jury and could cause undue sympathy for the witness, according to Myers.
“A number of criminal defendants take the position that it causes prejudice or unnecessary sympathy in favor of the witness, because everybody loves a cute dog," Myers explains. "That may actually cause undo sympathy for the witness.”
Myers hopes a ruling in favor of comfort dogs could lead to the development of consistent rules about their use in court, as well as creation of a stream of funding for the dogs.
This is the first time the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ever addressed the issue. The high court could offer its decision about the case this fall.