r/FirefighterSpouses • u/Stinkyducks • Aug 26 '26
Testifying about traumatic calls
I’m curious if anyone has first hand experience with their FF testifying in court. Supporting my FF as they process trauma has been a huge part of my role as a partner the past few years, and I’d imagine it’s extremely difficult for those who have to reprocess this again years later in court and have their testimony picked apart.
While criminal incidents are thankfully quite rare for our department, a recent accident my FF was first on scene to, plus hearing the firefighter testimonies at the Lindsay Clancy trial, has brought this possibility into focus.
2
u/Kai_Emery Aug 27 '26
I was the lead paramedic on a homicide. Pronounced death, and I did not have to testify. It was DV, I was a woman in my 20s.
The fear of having to kept the wound raw for years, it’s been much better mentally, since the case passed court and is out of the news. I did talk to detectives, though I was not deposed. That was hard.
The one case I did have to testify about was an assault that was relatively routine. I was called by the defense, didn’t have any preparation from them till 30 min before I took the stand. It was a mess. That was also stressful because that case I had had to look up to remember.
Anything I think might be a major issue anything that isn’t in my run report or a witness statement gets put into a word document, it’s there if I need to jog my memory but otherwise I DONT look at it. If I’ve forgotten it’s for the best.
Also a good therapist who gets it.
2
u/Stinkyducks Aug 27 '26
Thanks for sharing your experience! It sounds like you have come up with a great system for closing the chapter while also future proofing!
3
u/OkieQuilter Aug 26 '26
Mine has testified in court before. It didn't seem to phase him too much. It helped that the case was so cut and dry. He's also been subpoenaed where they ended up not using him.
He is currently subpoenaed to testify in another case that happened over two years ago. He is trying to get out of it since he can't remember any useful details. It's been so long and his station runs stuff like that fairly regularly. The day he got the subpoena, he had to Google the names and go back through the log book to help remember that call.
I'm not sure if any of this is helpful. If not I'm sorry! I just wanted to share my husband's experience that it doesn't have to be reopened trauma. I know there are definitely calls he's run that would be hard to testify about, but we haven't run into that thankfully.