Sarah Zent (left) and her three children — Carter, Ashton and Aubree — were killed in Fort Wayne in 2021 and are the inspiration for a bill moving through the Indiana Legislature that would largely require defendants to be present in court for the reading of victim impact statements. (Photo by Casey Smith/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
A proposal to ensure crime victims are not forced to deliver impact statements to an empty courtroom chair advanced unanimously from a Senate committee Tuesday following emotional testimony from families denied the chance to confront the person convicted of killing their loved ones.
Senate Bill 9, authored by Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, would require a defendant to be present in the courtroom while a victim delivers a statement about the crime and the sentence, unless the defendant poses a safety risk or causes a significant disruption.
The bill cleared the Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee in a bipartisan 9-0 vote and now heads to the full Senate…