Commission on the Standardization of the Collection of Evidence in Sexual Assault Investigations
Minutes of the meeting of December 12, 2016
Office of the Chief State's Attorney
Rocky Hill, Connecticut
Members in attendance: Catherine B, Austin, Office of the State's Attorney; Denise Covington, Office of Victim Services; Kristen Loranger, Office of Victim Services; Candida Fusco, CNA; Joy Reho, Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Forensic Science Laboratory; John Levanthal, Yale Child Abuse Clinic; Marielle Daniels, Connecticut Hospital Association; Laura Cordes, Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence; James Kenny, Vernon Police Department, Connecticut Police Chiefs Association; Linda Cimino, Office of Victim Services; Michele Noehren, Commission on Women, Children and Seniors; and Patti LaMonica, Emergency Department, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center.
The meeting was convened at 3:05 p.m. by Catherine Austin on behalf of Maureen Platt. It was mentioned Attorney Platt sent out a "reminder" e-mail on December 6, 2016.
Item for discussion by the Commission was the "State of Connecticut Technical Guidelines for Health Care Response to Victims of Sexual Assault (2017) DRAFT" (hereinafter referred to as "Technical Guidelines"). Denise Covington led the discussion of changes made in the Technical Guidelines. Ms. Covington conducted a page by page discussion of the proposed changes to the Technical Guidelines. There was also discussion of the timeline for the publication of the Technical Guidelines. Also discussed was the necessity of another meeting to review the final draft.
Dr. Levarthal discussed the process of the distribution of the Technical Guidelines.
The members discussed the status of Commission member Dr. Peter Jacoby and asked the Chairperson Maureen Platt to inquire as to his status with the commission as he is the representative from the Connecticut College of Emergency Physicians.
The Commission members were asked to review the introduction and listed members for their accuracy. It was asked Michele Noehren be added as a Commission member.
The Commission members then reviewed pages from introduction to page 21 of the "Technical Guidelines" Individual members made suggestions and asked questions with respect to the content of those pages. Members of the various disciplines volunteered to contact Denise Covington directly as to recommendations and suggestions.