Additional Rights for Child Victims
A. Evidence Code § 767(b): Permits leading questions to be asked of a child witness under 10 years of age.
B. Penal Code § 1127f: Requires court to give jury instruction not to discount or distrust the testimony of a child under 10 years of age solely because he/she is a child.
C. Penal Code § 859.1: Provides for a hearing to determine whether testimony of and relating to minor under the age of 16 years or dependent person with substantial cognitive impairment shall be closed to public.
D. Penal Code § 868.6: Courts to provide a non-threatening room for minor witnesses under the age of 16 years.
E. Penal Code § 868.8: Requires court to take reasonable breaks for minors under the age of 11 years, court to take special precautions to protect and provide comfort and support, court may remove robe if the judge believes that this formal attire intimidates the person with a disability or the minor.
F. Penal Code § 1202.05: Prohibits visitation between state prison inmate convicted of sex crime and child victim under 18 years of age.
G. Penal Code § 1347: Allows for testimony of child witness by closed circuit television in certain circumstances.
H. Penal Code § 1377: Prohibits civil compromise in misdemeanor cases involving child abuse or molestation (or elder abuse).
I. Penal Code § 1203.1g: Provides for restitution of treatment costs incurred by a child victim of sexual assault as a mandatory condition of probation.
J. Penal Code § 1203.1h: Allows the court to require the defendant to pay the cost of any medical examinations conducted on the child victim in order to determine the nature or extent of the abuse, neglect, or sexual assault.
