About Kim Hart
Trial Consultant
Kim Hart - My Story
My name is Kim Hart, and I am a trial consultant with over 25 years of experience assisting attorneys in the successful defense of persons accused of child abuse and/or sex crimes as well as successfully appealing those wrongfully convicted of child abuse and/or sex crimes.
I am knowledgeable as to the current state of the science in child abuse cases and sex crimes as well as appeals case law, and I am skillful at incorporating this information into specific cases. I maintain excellent professional relationships with the leading experts in every field of child abuse and sex crimes and can effectively integrate these experts into specific cases when necessary to a successful defense.
As a trial consultant since 1987, I have worked with various attorneys on cases in every state in the United States and have the experience and knowledge of what issues must be addressed as well as which strategies have proven successful and which have not.
In addition to being a child abuse and/or sex crimes trial consultant, I have been the Executive Director of the non-profit National Child Abuse Defense & Resource Center for over two decades. Through this role, I have helped organize 15 international conferences dealing with the defense of child abuse and sex crimes. I am an associate member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association. I am also a member of Strathmore’s Who’s Who, VIP, Lifetime Achievement Listing. Lastly, I authored ‘Guilty Until Proven Innocent: A Manual for Surviving False Allegations of Child Abuse’.
My fees are constructed on a case by case basis depending on the complexity of the case and the amount of my involvement.
About Todd James – Senior Appellate Writer
Over the past 14 years, I have reviewed hundreds of appeals cases and, in the process, have been able to digest the various approaches and legal arguments that have been utilized by hundreds of different lawyers.
It is my opinion that most appeals overlook viable issues and have a tendency to raise issues that have virtually no chance of being successful. For example, “manifest weight of the evidence” and “sufficiency of the evidence” arguments have virtually no chance of overturning the conviction.
If those are the main issues in an appeal, the chances of winning are slim to none. If those issues are raised in a collateral role of trying to help frame the mind-set of the appellate judges for a viable issue, then, there may be a place in your appeal for them. Remember, an alleged victim’s testimony if believed by the trier of fact is sufficient to convict someone (regardless of the alleged victim’s pre-trial statements and trial testimony are contradictory).
Many appellate attorneys who are doing a direct appeal will often tell you that they are only interested in reading the transcripts of the trial. Many of them will not want to obtain and review the original attorney file since it is not ‘part of the record’. Prosecutors sometimes fail to provide the defendant with all favorable or exculpatory evidence that they have. The practice of an appellate attorney not reviewing the original attorney file is plainly wrong. Brady material (favorable and/or exculpatory evidence) can many times be gleaned from materials that were in the original case file.
For example, the original trial attorney may have been provided statements or reports that could indicate that prior interviews were conducted with an alleged victim or important witness. The prosecution did not provide the prior interviews because he/she did not feel or believe that the prior interviews were “favorable” to the defendant. Yet, those prior interviews could have been the evidence to show changes in the alleged victim’s story, contradictions with a witness’ trial testimony, and so on.
Since the majority of sexual abuse convictions hinge on the credibility of the accuser, any evidence that discredits the accuser’s credibility could have impacted the verdict. While many appellate attorneys would argue that these are “post-conviction issues”, we would submit that they could provide support, for example, of ineffective assistance of counsel on the direct appeal.
Presentations and Seminars
Additional guest lectures have been given at Ohio University School of Social Work, W. Virginia University School of Social Work, and Baylor University School of Law
Written Works
This compilation below is a list of some of the many written works I have published:
Proper Defense of False Allegations of Abuse
The Voice, published by the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. September, 2002. Volume 31, No. 7. Co-authored with L.T. “Butch” Bradt, J.D. and Elsie Martin-Simon, J.D.
After-word in From the Mouths of Babes: The Criminal Trial of a Sunday School Teacher
- Paul Grey, Ph.D. Lost Coast Publishing.
Guilty Until Proven Innocent: A Manual for Surviving False Allegations of Child Abuse
Second Edition. 2000. Published by the NCADRC Publishing.
Defending Child Abuse Allegations Motion Book with CD-Rom.
1998. Published by NCADRC
Deposition Questions for Mental Health Professionals Regarding Sexual Abuse.
1995. Published by NCADRC.
Guilty Until Proven Innocent: A Manual for Surviving False Allegations of Child Abuse.
1989. Winchester Group (Parker & Son Legal Publishing).
References
The following attorneys are a sampling of attorneys that Kimberly has consulted:
John Edmond Mays, J.D., Decatur, Alabama
Stephen Glassroth, J.D., Montgomery, Alabama
Mary Lynn Belsher, J.D., Modesto, California
Charles Jamieson, J.D., Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Mark Lipinski, J.D., Bradenton, Florida
Bruce Lyons, J.D., Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Douglas Peters, J.D., Decatur, Georgia
William Harrison, J.D., Honolulu, Hawaii
Patrick Arata, J.D., Ft. Wayne, Indiana
George Jones, J.D. Lamoni, Iowa
Mark Stanziano, J.D., Somerset, Kentucky
Rebecca Nitkin, J.D., Rockville, Maryland
John Andrews, J.D., Salem, Massachusetts
Gail S. Benson, J.D., Beverly Hills, Michigan
Tim Cisar, J.D., Lake Ozark, Missouri
Jay Milano, J.D., Rocky River, Ohio
Karl Rissland, J.D., Streetsboro, Ohio
Lorin Zaner, J.D., Toledo, Ohio
James Hankle, J.D., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Andrew Savage III, J.D., Charleston, South Carolina
James Bell, J.D., Knoxville, Tennessee
L.T. “Butch” Bradt, J.D., Houston, Texas
Robert Estrada, J.D., Wichita Falls, Texas
Elsie Martin-Simon, J.D., Houston, Texas
David S. Marshall, J.D., Seattle, Washington
Robert LeBell, J.D., Milwaukee, Wisconsin