News & Events

Gallatin County trial support, Bozeman, MT

Description:

We arrived on the last day of family witnesses. The defendant’s son and his mother and one other witness were present. The mother was open to visiting with Layla but the son said he didn’t like dogs because a dog had killed one of his cats. He has several. I switched gears and told him Layla and I both loved and had had cats in our lives. That didn’t seem to have much effect on him, but when he returned later after testifying.....which was very difficult...he wanted to tell us about his cats and show us photos. That process seemed to lighten him up and he smiled and chatted so long that his Mother kept urging him to go. Even though he wasn’t interested in connecting with a dog, Layla’s presence, nonetheless, opened him up to sharing about his beloved cats and gave him respite from his challenging day.
One other witness was present and he welcomed a hello from Layla but otherwise was non communicative. We also visited with several staff members.
It was so helpful to have Mary go in with me and describe the process.

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