Judge on Trial

Judge On Trial is an in-depth analysis of the 1983 "Amy" case, where a twelve-year-old girl was confined to juvenile hall for her failure to testify against her physician father who had confessed to molesting her. It occurred during the same week that ABC released its breakthrough incest drama, Something about Amelia, which attracted sixty million viewers. The mainstream media crucified the decision to hold the girl, calling it a Kafkaesque legal fiasco--the system punishing the child it was designed to protect--but local news media, legal experts, and victims of child abuse disagreed. This is the story of the case as written by the judge's wife, Kay DeRonde, detailing the pressure applied to the girl by the mother, the father, and their attorneys to drop the case so that the family could stay together. Its further goal was to save the doctor's medical license. The commentary in this pivotal book raises even larger questions: Are child witnesses free to testify? Should admitted molesters be able to access the victim by attorneys, acting through the mother? And was justice served by dismissing the case? This book provides the answers and confronts the legal, moral, and faith-based dilemma raised by the stunning series of events.