Nova the courtroom dog receives statewide honor

by Jessica Tomhave

news@thenewsleaders.com

The Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association named Stearns County facility dog, Nova, Professional Animal of the Year on Feb. 10.

Animals from three categories – Professional, Hero and Companion – were inducted into the MVMA Hall of Fame for their extraordinary relationships with people. Nova’s handler and Paralegal Victim Witness Coordinator Keli Trautman accepted the award on Nova’s behalf at the MVMA annual meeting in Minneapolis. Trautman has diligently worked with and cared for Nova for five years, maintaining Nova’s “intense” certification, training and grooming requirements.

The 6-year-old golden retriever with a golden heart is no stranger to fame since coming to work at the Stearns County Attorney’s Office in 2019. She has been recognized on a state and national level for her ground-breaking work assisting victims and witnesses through criminal-case proceedings. Last fall her efforts were featured on the TV show “Good Morning America” as Minnesota’s first facility dog to accompany a victim on a witness stand.

Nova’s journey to Stearns County began with extensive certification through Helping Paws Inc., a nonprofit based in Hopkins specializing in training assistance dogs like Nova and her “sister” Norie, who is Ramsey County’s facility dog. She is trained in 80 skills, but Trautman said it’s her compassion for people’s emotional needs that sets Nova apart. Assistant Stearns County Attorney Jaimie Reinschmidt said Trautman shares Nova’s empathetic personality, making them the perfect pair in assisting victims and vulnerable witnesses.

Nova typically works with children on cases that meet very specific criteria. In such cases, young victims are tasked with telling their painful experiences to a room full of strangers. The re-telling of traumatic events can feel re-traumatizing. Comfort items are commonly held by children while testifying, but Reinschmidt explained the greater benefits of a dog’s presence.

“Research shows the impact on a person’s verbal output – what they’re able to verbalize, explain, talk about – when they’re in a state of trauma when a dog is with them versus not,” Reinschmidt said.

She then noted Nova’s work from a scientific perspective.

“If you’re undergoing a fight, flight or freeze response because you’re reliving what you’ve experienced and you can’t talk, which we know happens all the time whether it’s on the witness stand or not, it impedes the trial,” Reinschmidt said. “It impedes justice because you have victims that can’t say what happened.”

She continued:

“The benefit of having Nova on the stand,” she said, “is a tremendous improvement in what a victim is able to endure while they’re in that situation. And the result is a trial where a victim gets to tell the whole story (because) their testimony can be more detailed, more accurate. This is an opportunity for the jury to get to hear the whole story with a tool [Nova] that we would argue has no negative effects on the trial.”

Nova clearly puts victims at ease with her gentle presence. She rests her head in their laps or at their feet as details are revealed that might have otherwise gone unsaid without Nova giving victims the courage to speak.

“It might look like she’s sleeping,” Trautman said, “but she is listening.”

Trained to attend to the most subtle emotional cues, Nova will respond with gentle nudges of reassurance during times of stress.

Trautman recalled an instance when Nova tended to a mother during her child’s testimony before Trautman noticed the mother quietly weeping. Nova didn’t miss a beat.

“She’s very intuitive,” Trautman said proudly. “I don’t even have to tell her what to do; she just does it. She’s so cool.”

Nova’s main in-house role is the great furry comforter to all. Along with victims and witnesses, she provides stress-relief for attorneys after grueling days in court. Her responsibilities vary day-to-day. In addition to consoling and inspiring, she and Trautman are increasingly busy with visits to surrounding counties and joining Reinschmidt on presentations, planting seeds and spreading the word about the benefits of facility dogs like her.

Nova’s work is not for the faint of heart. She is an emotional support for the most vulnerable victims. She is a reassuring calm in the storm of trauma. She helps hold people together when they feel like falling apart. Trautman said there are days Nova comes home visibly exhausted. And that’s not from performing physical tasks like other assistance dogs, but from the emotional and mental workload of having her ears always tuned in. After an extra hard day, Nova will go straight to lie down instead of playing around with the family’s other furry pet.

As taxing as her work can be, Nova likes it. She also likes chasing balls down the hallways on a rare casual day at the office. Reinschmidt and Trautman agree that Nova out of her vest is an entirely different dog from the working persona she’s famous for. She is “all business” in her vest, but when out of it she enjoys long walks, wrestling with her dog friends and playing fetch. Trautman said pancakes will get Nova to do almost anything.

Turning 7 in April, Nova will likely work another four to five years before retiring. Until then she continues to forge new paths in Minnesota’s justice system. Only 16 states have statutes in place permitting certified dogs to accompany victims and witnesses on witness stands; Minnesota is not yet one of them. Reinschmidt is confident, however, that dogs accompanying victims and vulnerable witnesses of all ages to the stand will be upheld in Minnesota’s future as a direct result of Nova’s work.

Statutes granting facility dogs like Nova permission to accompany witnesses to the stand eliminate the lengthy permission process Minnesota currently requires. As with Nova’s novel case, permission must be sought by the prosecution and approved by the court through an exhaustive process on a case-by-case basis until the day there are statutes in place allowing it. Reinschmidt hopes continued examples of success case-by-case will lead to permanent statutes in Minnesota.

“There is a lot at stake each time we do this,” she said. “And we’re trying to be very intentional and cautious about it. We are not pursuing having the dog in the courtroom flippantly. We’re not just pursuing justice at all costs regardless of the defendant’s right to a fair trial. It is done very intentionally in a manner we believe protects the right to a fair trial while still providing the benefits to the victim that we think the victim deserves.”

Undoubtedly, Nova will continue to do her part, doing what she does best – helping victims feel composed enough to find their words so justice can be served.