Posted on

Korea’s ‘Semen Terrorism’ Is Happening Here, Too

The trend of men ejaculating onto women has become a hot topic in Korea, where advocates want to see it defined as a sex crime. But these sort of attacks may also be dramatically underreported in the U.S.

“With sexual assaults, [experts] often say the person to whom a victim first reports can have an impact on whether the victim proceeds with the process. So, if you can imagine telling a friend or family member or loved ones about a semen attack, only for it to be minimized as, ‘Thank God you weren’t raped.’ Or it might be law enforcement saying ‘Well, what do you want us to do? Our laws don’t cover that,’” [Jennifer] Long says.

Posted on

Identifying, Preserving, and Introducing Digital Evidence: #Guilty

The way we interact with technology continues to increase and evolve as we rely on computers, smart phones, and other digital devices to complete many of our daily activities. Unfortunately, as technology becomes more integral to our lives, offenders have increasingly misused technology to facilitate crimes against women, and as a means to assert power and control in the course of an intimate partner relationship. Where technology is being used to perpetrate crimes, investigators and prosecutors can identify, preserve, and present digital evidence in order strengthen cases, support victims, and hold offenders accountable for the full range of their criminal and abusive activity

This presentation demonstrates how cyber investigations can be used to reveal evidence of criminal activity, as well as evidence of the power and control dynamics of an abusive intimate partner relationship, but while also supporting the protection of victim privacy. The presenter discusses theories of admission, rules of evidence, and case law is discussed using “real life” examples to demonstrate how to properly authenticate and introduce digital evidence in civil and criminal proceedings.

At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be better able to:

– Identify how offender misuse technology to perpetrate crimes and assert power and control against intimate partners

– Coordinate with allied professionals to better identify sources of digital evidence that can be used to strengthen prosecutions

– Effectively litigate the admission of digital evidence by analyzing applicable evidence rules, current case law, and underlying theories of admission

Posted on

Countering Witness Intimidation: Forfeiture by Wrongdoing

Witness intimidation and manipulation factor into almost every domestic violence prosecution. Abusers engage in these tactics because they often work. When witness intimidation is successful, victims decline to participate in the prosecution, they minimize the abuse on the witness stand, or they testify on behalf of the abuser.

But what if we eliminate the payoff for the would-be intimidator? Coordinated efforts by police, prosecutors, and advocates in the form of safety planning, expedited prosecution, victim education, and other strategies can reduce the opportunities for intimidation, thereby increasing the likelihood that victims will feel safe testifying in court. And prosecution strategies, from charging intimidation-related offenses to filing motions to admit out-of-court statements by victims who have been intimidated into silence, can actually increase the likelihood of conviction and the penal consequences for the intimidator. This presentation focuses on forfeiture by wrongdoing as a solution in the case of witnesses who are unavailable for trial due to the offender’s wrongful conduct.

At the conclusion of this training, participants will be better able to:

• Reduce opportunities for intimidation.

• Educate victims about intimidation.

• Preserve evidence of intimidation that will help to convict the abuser, regardless of whether (or how) the victim testifies.

• Litigate motions to admit evidence under the doctrine of forfeiture by wrongdoing.

Posted on

Disrupting “Pill Mills”: Using Data to Investigate and Prosecute Prescription Drug Diversion

Presented by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, Innovative Prosecution Solutions (IPS) Grantee

The opioid epidemic has devastated communities across the United States, resulting in hundreds of thousands of lives lost in the past two decades. In response, some state and local prosecutors have taken a data-driven approach to the crisis. This webinar spotlights the experiences of an Innovative Prosecution Solutions (IPS) grantee’s efforts to tackle one troubling aspect of the opioid epidemic—doctors and pharmacists who inappropriately disseminate opioid medications. Tamara Holland of the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office in Texas discusses data-driven methods to identify and prosecute “pill-mill” practices, such as analyzing prescription history data through Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs and overdose death data from medical examiners’ offices.

Upon completion of this session, participants will be better able to:

– Collaborate with allied professionals to collect and analyze comprehensive data.

– Identify connections between at risk-patients and drug-diverting pharmacies and doctors.

– Utilize data analysis in conjunction with other intelligence-building techniques to inform charging strategies for prosecuting “pill-mill” doctors.

Posted on

Technology Implementation: Preparation and Pitfalls

Today, law enforcement officers not only address crime, but serve as front line responders to homelessness, mental health crises, and substance use disorders. While many police departments have mental health evaluation or Quality of Life teams, they often do not have the tools readily available to connect or reconnect the individuals they encounter to necessary services. 

This webinar spotlights the Long Beach City Prosecutor’s Office’s efforts to tackle this real-time information gap for police officers. City Prosecutor Doug Haubert and Legal Technologist Byron Bolton will discuss the creation of the Government User Integrated Diversion Enhancement System (GUIDES), a phone application that allows officers to immediately access relevant criminal justice and treatment information about an individual from anywhere in the city. This app not only grants law enforcement an extra measure of safety when encountering new individuals—by allowing them to search for any outstanding court orders or histories of mental health—but enables officers to make better-informed decisions about how to approach these individuals and which services to connect them to. Implementing this innovative technology required multiple partnerships and information-sharing protocols. The presenters discuss these crucial steps as well as the hurdles they overcame to launch this innovative application.

Posted on

State, Meet Federal: Prosecuting Law Enforcement Involved Sexual Violence

Those who commit crimes involving sexual violence often exploit the disparate power dynamic between victim and offender — whether the relationship is between teacher and student; producer and actor; coach and athlete; or law enforcement officer and arrestee, probationer, or inmate. By wielding weapons of authority, the perpetrator leaves the victim with little choice but to submit to sexual acts and stay quiet in the aftermath, fearing that they will be disbelieved or blamed if they try to report it. This is especially true in the law enforcement context, where victims are usually in the custody of their offender and have a history of criminal activity, which often has an impact on their credibility in the eyes of untrained professionals, juries, and the public.

This presentation addresses the reaches of federal jurisdiction to prosecute sexual violence by those acting under color of law at all levels of government. It discusses how coordination among federal and state authorities can enhance investigations into reports of sexual violence, and if the evidence permits, help determine in which jurisdiction to bring charges. It further focuses on three critical Federal Rules of Evidence that can be used to corroborate a victim’s account and build a strong case — even where there is no physical evidence or eyewitness testimony.

Posted on

‘So I raped you.’ Facebook message renews fight for justice for former Gettysburg College student

Jennifer Long, a former Philadelphia prosecutor, co-founded a training organization called AEquitas in 2009 to help prosecutors tackle sexual assault cases. She thinks her peers focus too much on conviction rates.

“I don’t mean to minimize convictions. Obviously, we want to hold offenders responsible. But we want to identify what skills and knowledge we need to be able to do that,” Long said.

Too often, she said, prosecutors underestimate the strength of their cases and the ability of juries to sort through them.

AEquitas shows them how to overcome potential hurdles, such as using a toxicologist to discuss a victim’s impairment or a psychiatrist to explain victim and offender behavior.

Posted on

The Prosecutors’ Guide for Reducing Violence and Building Safer Communities

This Guide discusses the essential capabilities necessary for a prosecutor’s office to effectively prevent and respond to crimes of violence. It suggests practices that are customizable and scalable, from foundational to enhanced, depending on an office’s available resources and experiences, as well as jurisdiction-specific needs and challenges . This Guide is intended to enable the executives responsible for operating a prosecutor’s office to identify policies and practices that can be readily implemented, as well as those that represent actionable goals to work toward. Every prosecutor’s office — whether a small tribal or rural office, a mid-sized suburban office, or a large office serving a major metropolitan area — can build the capacity to improve its response to violent crime by systematically incorporating promising practices that will harness all available resources to achieve the goal of a safer community.Prosecutors Guide for Reducing Violence and Building Safer Communities

Posted on

The Weinstein Verdict Shows Why Rape Convictions Are So Rare

This one decision could upend her life, starting her on a path that might expose her worst or most terrifying moments to the world, and force her to relive them day after day. “It’s a very daunting and a very personal decision,” says Jane Anderson, a former sex-crimes prosecutor who now works for AEquitas, a group that advises prosecutors on sexual-assault cases. And by law, the odds are against her: “The system isn’t designed to support victims. The system is designed to provide defendants with their constitutional rights.”

Posted on

Stealthing Being Legal In US Excuses Sexual Abuse For Millions

Jennifer Long, CEO and founder of AEquitas, a non-profit which aims to improve justice in sexual violence, says with an incident that begins with consensual sexual activity but then becomes non-consensual, like stealthing, justice can become somewhat of an uphill battle for survivors.

‘Sometimes people will say, well, it’s not as harmful to a victim, because they’ve already consented to something. That’s a problematic value judgment because survivors have individual experiences and we can’t calculate the harm,’ Long explains.