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When pandemic conditions ease up enough to start holding jury trials again, Shelby County prosecutors will be facing dozens of domestic abuse cases, which even in normal years comprise half of all violent crime.
One way to speed up this process, according to experts? Not relying on victims to testify.
This story was produced in partnership with the Institute for Public Service Reporting, and is part of the series Surging in Silence, which is supported by the Pulitzer Center.
Many cases of intimate partner violence never make it to court because the current or former abused spouse or partner will not testify. Casey Gwinn doesn’t blame them.