A court confronted with an unavailable complainant can take several steps to attempt to make the court process safer for the complainant and thereby make her more willing to testify. The Judicial Center of New Mexico offers several suggestions summarized below. For the complete text of these suggestions, go to: Judicial Education Center of New Mexico, Domestic Violence Benchbook, § 10.7.2, available here.

1. Subpoena the victim, or if she is already in court, order her to return on another date. Doing so will demonstrate to both the victim and the accused that the court, not the victim is in control of the trial proceedings.
2. Ascertain from the victim the reason(s) she may be reluctant to testify. Based on her answers, the court can decide whether she is acting freely, or is under duress from the accused's coercive actions.
3. Continue the case for a period of hours or days to allow the victim to seek help from counselors, inquire about a victim/witness program, and learn about her options. She will also need to create a safety plan.
4. If it is permitted in your jurisdiction, allow the victim's advocate to be present in the court with her.
5. If the prosecutor cannot be present at a hearing and the burden of proof is on the victim and/or the arresting officer, apprise the victim of the elements of the crime so she can testify only to those, and allow her extra time to answer questions if she is unable to provide chronological answers.