Testifying in Court: What Community Corrections Officers Need to Know

Outline:
Section 1: Introduction

About This Course

Learning Objectives

Section 2: Preparing for Court

Situations When Community Corrections Officers May Have to Testify

Testimony in Your Official Capacity

Testimony as a Defendant in a Criminal and/or Civil Proceedings

Testimony as a Witness in a Criminal or Civil Proceeding

Testimony as a Plaintiff in a Civil Action

Knowledge Check

Strategies for Preparing for Court

Know Your Rights

Communicate with Your Attorney

Review Pertinent Information

Review

Summary

Section 3: Courtroom Etiquette

First Impressions

Recommendations for Displaying Appropriate Courtroom Etiquette

Strategies for Providing Effective Testimony

Stages of the Questioning Process in Criminal or Civil Matters

Actively Listen to What is Being Asked

Practice Effective Verbal Communication

Be Cognizant of Non-Verbal Communication Cues

Review

Summary

Section 4: Conclusion

Summary

Course Contributors

Resources

References

Congratulations!

Mr. Wicklund has over 48 years of experience in the corrections and human services field. He is currently a Senior Advisor with the Traffic Injury Research Foundation ‐ USA. He recently served as the Community Justice Division Director for VOA in Minnesota. He was the Executive Director of the American Probation and Parole Association for over 19 years. Where he administered well over 100 grants and training and technical assistance projects, research and information clearinghouse services related to pretrial, probation, parole, and services for victims of crime. He oversaw numerous face-to-face training programs as well as the development and delivery of distance learning endeavors.

He served as the director of a three-county adult and juvenile probation and parole department as well as developed and managed a variety of community-based, private sector programs for juveniles and adults involved with the justice or social services systems. He has served or is serving on numerous locally, nationally, and internationally oriented advisory groups that include representatives from various criminal and juvenile justice organizations and agencies. He was the vice-chair for 8 years of the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative advisory committee (a committee consisting of 35 national organizations) which advises the U.S. Attorney General on cross-domain information sharing (also chaired the Privacy Committee for several years) and was a member of the Criminal Justice Information System Advisory Policy Board which advises the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He was also a volunteer counselor at the Minneapolis Sexual Assault Crisis Center.

He received the first annual Minnesota Citizens Council on Crime and Justice ‐ Gisela Konopka Award in 1984 for humane and creative treatment of juvenile delinquents, the 2001 Florida Community Corrections Association's Life Time Achievement Award, the first annual U.S. Congressional Crime Victims' Rights Caucus Allied Professional Award in 2006, the 2007 Justice Leadership Award from Family Justice (NY) and in 2015 a Justice Leadership Award from the US Department of Justice.

Disclosure: Carl Wicklund has declared that no conflict of interest, Relevant Financial Relationship or Relevant Non-Financial Relationship exists.

Mrs. Cobb is a Lead SME Writer/Trainer at Relias. Her primary writing responsibilities are in the content areas of public safety and behavioral health. Mrs. Cobb is also the onboarding trainer for new staff joining the Relias Content Department. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Correctional and Juvenile Justice Studies and a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice. She has over 25 years of experience working in criminal and juvenile justice. Her work includes direct service, research, publication development, and training and technical assistance development and delivery.

Disclosure: Kimberly Cobb, MS has declared that no conflict of interest, Relevant Financial Relationship or Relevant Non-Financial Relationship exists.