Defendants’ out of court confessions

Furthermore, a medical opinion regarding the defendant may also be helpful for the court, depending on the circumstances of the case. A concrete example concerned a case in which the defendant claimed that he could not have sexually exploited the victim due to physical incapacity. His claim was countered by an expert medical opinion, as will be seen below. 108 In Wipaporn Songmeesap Thailand, 109 a 14-year-old Thai girl was enslaved as a domestic worker. The victim was underpaid for her work and was severely physically abused. In this case, in addition to the victim testimony, the testimony of a doctor was submitted who performed a medical examination of the victim and documented her wounds. The doctor’s report and his testimony were mentioned as part of the evidential foundation for the conviction of restraining an injured minor for the purposes of enslavement and another charge. In the Urizar Canada 110 case, involving sexual exploitation of the victim by her boyfriend, the court relied on a medical report to conirm that the victim had suffered injuries to her knees consistent with her claims that the defendant had pushed her downstairs. The defendant was convicted of human traficking and other charges. In Mwakio Kenya, 111 the court, in denying the defendant’s appeal on the issue of the suficiency of the evidence for his conviction of deilement and child traficking for sexual exploitation, relied, in addition to other evidence, on a doctor’s testimony regarding his medical examination of the victim. This expert testimony corroborated the victim’s claim that she had been raped. The court noted that: “Rape and deilement are both crimes which are perpetrated under the cover of darkness. There is unlikely to be an eye witness. In many cases the only corroboration is medical.” George Hezron Mwakio v Republic [2010] eKLR, Criminal Appeal 169 of 2008, High Court of Kenya at Mombasa, 28 June 2010, Kenya. In Hirang y Rodriquez Philippines, 112 concerning commercial sexual exploitation of several Filipino girls, four victims were subjected to a dental examination to determine their ages. The examination found that they were all minors. The court relied on the results of the examination in order to rule that this was a case of traficking of minors which is considered “qualiied” traficking in persons. 113 Also in Canonoy Philippines, 114 in which a 14-year-old girl was employed by the defendant to provide sexual services in his bar, a dentist testiied that he had carried out a dental examination of the victim to determine if she already had a third molar tooth. The signiicance of the presence of a third moral tooth was that “if the patient has no third molar, still below the age of 17 years or minor”. Upon checking, the dentist concluded that that the victim 108 See a full description of Ernst F. Germany in this section. 109 Case No. 49942550, Red Case No. 122132552, 1st Instance: Criminal Court of Southern Bangkok, 6 November 2009, Thailand. The case is available in the UNODC Human Traficking Case Law Database UNODC Case No. THA005. 110 See Index of all cases. For detailed facts, see the in-depth analysis in section 5.2 of the Case Digest. 111 See Index of all cases. 112 See Index of all cases. 113 This denotes traficking under aggravating circumstances, in this case, in view of the fact that the victim was a minor. 114 People of the Philippines v. Monette Canonoy, Crim. Case No. 14206, the Regional Trial Court, 1st Judicial Region, Branch 11, Laoag City, the Philippines. The case is available in the UNODC Human Traficking Case Law Database UNODC No. PHL054. was still a minor and issued a dental certiicate, presented in the court as evidence. In the same case, the victim also underwent a medical examination to determine whether or not she had been sexually abused. A medico-legal report was presented in the court, stating that, it was not possible to determine whether or not she was sexually abused. Based on the victim’s testimony and the dentist’s testimony, the court found the defendant guilty of qualiied traficking in persons. In Ernst F. Germany, 115 the defendant started a sexual relationship with the victim and later forced her to become a prostitute. The victim worked for him as a prostitute for 11 years. During this time, the defendant kept the victim in isolation and raped her on numerous occasions. The victim was also forced to work under dificult conditions, with no vacation days and with all of her earnings going directly to the defendant. The case was characterized by a wide array of medical opinions. Firstly, the victim’s detailed evidence was evaluated by an expert witness who was a head physician of the forensic ward of a hospital. He diagnosed the victim as suffering from alcohol addiction and with a dependent personality disorder, which can inluence the accuracy of testimony. Nevertheless, he explained that in his assessment the victim was to be deemed credible on the basis of her description of her feelings, which centred on examining her own guilt and responsibility and partially incriminat- ing herself. The court too viewed the victim as credible. 116 In addition, the victim’s gynaecolo- gist testiied as to the signs of rapes and explained that they were in accordance with the victim’s testimony. Finally, the defendant’s claim that he could not have possibly raped anyone due to erectile dysfunction was evaluated by another medical expert who reported there were no signs of such a condition. The defendant was convicted of human traficking for sexual exploitation and other sexual charges, including rape. In Case 8959-2012 Egypt, 117 regarding traficking for prostitution according to false mar- riage promises, a forensic medical report found that one of the victims was still a virgin while the other two were not. Expert testimony in the ield of psychology in general and victimology in particular Expert testimony in the ield of psychology in general and victimology in particular is viewed by some courts and some practitioners to be a particularly important source of evidence in traficking in persons cases, because the victim’s personality and psychological state is often central to understanding the case. On the other hand, some practitioners are reluctant to use such “soft science” testimony. A case from Finland 118 concerns a businessman who pretended to own a modelling company in Finland. He invited twelve young Finnish women to interviews during which the women were photographed naked and touched, and some were even raped. Their subsequent work involved providing erotic shows, pornography, striptease and prostitution. The women were also sexually exploited and raped. When the modelling company came to the attention of the 115 Case No. 1KLs 211 Js 377111, Regional Court Bayreuth, 30 December 2011, Germany. The case is available in the UNODC Human Traficking Case Law Database UNODC No. DEU003. 116 According to Section 244 of the Criminal Procedure Code StPO the court can deny a request to evaluate the credibility of a victim’s testimony by an expert aussagepsychologisches Gutachten, stating that it has suficient competence to make such an evaluation. Some courts, however, rely on expert evaluation which submits victims to an intense screening process. The expert gives a written and oral opinion in court on his indings. It is then legally dificult for a court to deviate from an expert’s opinion. 117 See Index of all cases. For detailed facts, see the in-depth analysis in section 5.8 of the Case Digest. 118 District Court of Helsinki, 71 Department, 7 December 2011, Finland. The case is available in the UNODC Human Traficking Case Law Database UNODC No. FIN008.