Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak interview Mary Chiappetta, a member of Soroptimist International Huntington Beach. Soroptimist International is a global volunteer organization providing women and girls with access to the education and training they need to achieve economic empowerment. Mary became passionate about raising sex trafficking awareness after serving as a juror on a criminal case in Orange County, California.
Mary Chiappetta


Mary Chiappetta is a member of Soroptimist International Huntington Beach. Soroptimist International is a global volunteer organization providing women and girls with access to the education and training they need to achieve economic empowerment. Mary chairs the Stop Human Trafficking committee for SIHB. She became passionate about raising sex trafficking awareness after serving as a juror on a criminal case in Orange County, California.

Key Points

Is a victim of human trafficking credible if he/she has previous crimes committed?
Within a prosecution, it is very important for the jury to understand the background and vocabulary within the specific sub-culture.
While social media must be used carefully, it often provides evidence to incriminate pimps.
Jury duty is often seen as a dreaded responsibility, however, Mary turned it into an opportunity to learn more about the issues and has become an advocate for victims as a result of her experience as a juror.

Resources

Soroptimist

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Transcript
Dave [00:00:00] You're listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 225 - What Jurors Want to Know.

Production Credits [00:00:07] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:28] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:34] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:36] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Today, we have a special episode with the perspective from a juror. So, glad to welcome to the show today Mary Chiappetta. She is a member of Soroptimist International, Huntington Beach. Soroptimist International is a global volunteer organization providing women and girls with access to the education and training they need to achieve economic empowerment. Mary chairs the Stop Human Trafficking Committee for SIHB. She became passionate about raising sex trafficking awareness after serving as a juror on a criminal case here in Orange County, California. Mary, we're so glad to welcome you to the show.

Mary [00:01:22] I'm delighted to be here. Thanks for having me.

Sandie [00:01:25] We're glad to have, that's for sure. I've often wondered how jurors feel when they're sitting in a court at a human trafficking trial. And to get to talk to somebody and ask them those questions is really excited about this. We've never done a podcast like this before. Mary and I haven't met until today and in recent emails, so I'm especially happy for this opportunity. So, welcome.

Mary [00:01:54] Thank you.

Sandie [00:01:55] So, we're going to jump right in with what did you know about human trafficking before you went for jury duty?

Mary [00:02:05] Well, I'm embarrassed to say I knew almost nothing. I mean, when they said that it was going to be a human trafficking case, my mind went to a van with people being smuggled across the border. It went to a sweatshop where people were working for no money. I didn't think of it as the sex trafficking part at all. I just had absolutely no idea. I was a little bit,