Acts of witness intimidation range from the crude to the complex and, when successful, evade the purview of the justice system, which allows the criminal behavior to continue unchecked. The pervasive nature of these crimes is devastating to victims and to community confidence in the justice system’s ability to keep victims safe and hold offenders accountable. Criminal justice professionals, community leaders, and researchers have declared witness intimidation a national concern and a challenge to the administration of justice. This article discusses how to recognize intimidation and reduce its impact on the criminal justice system through education, documentation and other preventive measures. The authors also offer effective investigation and prosecution strategies.
Presence of Victim Advocate During Sexual Assault Exam Summary of State Laws
Following a sexual assault report, victims are propelled into the criminal justice system and faced with an array of strangers, each with his or her own role in the response, investigation, or prosecution of the crime. Victims are often interviewed by multiple people, including police officers, doctors, nurses, social workers, and prosecutors. To help victims cope with these challenges, some state legislatures have passed laws providing them with the right to have a victim advocate or personal representative present during such interviews to offer support. This article focuses specifically on the victim’s right to have an advocate present during a medical forensic exam.
Supreme Court Upholds DNA Collection of Arrestees
In Maryland v. King, the U.S. Supreme Court held that states may obtain and test DNA samples of defendants arrested for violent crimes. This decision resolved conflicting holdings in state and federal courts and clarified that this procedure does not violate the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. It also sanctioned the expanded use of arrestee DNA profiles to solve cold cases in which there is DNA evidence that can prove the identity of a perpetrator. This article reviews the case facts and its impact on DNA collection laws.
“I Hear You Knockin’ But You Can’t Come In [At Least While I’m Here]” Fernandez v. California: Third-Party Consent Search After Arrest of Objecting Suspect-Occupant
Does a suspect’s refusal of entry prevent the police from later, in the absence of the objecting occupant, obtaining the consent of an adult co-occupant to enter and search the premises without a warrant? In its recent decision in Fernandez v. California, the United States Supreme Court answered that question in the negative—at least where the police have, in good faith, removed the objecting suspect by arresting him or her. This article reviews the facts of the case, state court proceedings, the US Supreme Court’s opinion, and the gang connection and witness intimidation involved. The article ultimately concludes that the Fernandez decision will facilitate prompt and efficient evidence collection in many crimes involving domestic violence while simultaneously empowering victims to consent to reasonable investigative requests that will facilitate holding their abusers accountable.
Identifying, Investigating, and Prosecuting Witness Intimidation in Cases of Sexual Abuse in Confinement
Regardless of the setting in which it occurs, witness intimidation is a chronic problem with devastating implications for victims and for the prosecution of crimes. Victims of sexual abuse in confinement are especially vulnerable to intimidation because they typically have fewer opportunities to escape from (or even avoid) their abusers. This article identifies strategies for investigations and prosecutions that build trust in the criminal justice system and provide multiple, safe, and confidential points of entry for potential reporters. It also discusses victim and witness safety, retaliatory violence, verbal and physical intimidation, and financial and emotional manipulation. The author also examines the potential for intimidation and violence over the course of multiple cases and across time in a single case, as well as policies and protocols that promote effective prosecution of these cases.
The Prosecutors’ Resource on Elder Abuse
This Prosecutors’ Resource is designed to assist with investigating and prosecuting cases involving abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation of an older victim. It includes foundational knowledge on the various forms and co-occurrence of elder abuse crimes, the characteristics of victims and perpetrators, the aging body, and issues of competency and capacity that will all inform prosecutors’ decision-making in cases and interactions with victims. This Prosecutors’ Resource also provides prosecution strategies for working with older victims and addresses the individual steps and considerations for prosecuting elder abuse cases from the initial interview and investigation through sentencing.
The Internet & Intimate Partner Violence: Technology Changes, Abuse Doesn’t
Although intimate partner abuse and harassment perpetrated through technology can look different than in-person abuse or harassment, the goals and motives are still the same: power and control. Technology allows an abuser to assert that power and control by keeping tabs on their partner – by knowing who the survivor talks to, what they do, and where they go. This is a key aspect of control. Because so many people live their lives on the Internet, it is a treasure trove of information, allowing abusers to stay informed and in control of their victims. This Strategies Newsletter provides an overview of online abuse and offers solutions for documenting the abuse, supporting survivors, and holding offenders accountable.
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SAJI Annotated Bibliography (June 2017)
This bibliography provides an extensive list of studies, best practices, strategies and other resources to support the prosecution of sexual assault, from the victim’s initial report through trial. The annotations offer overviews for every source on topics such as: performance measures, conviction rates, standards of practice, criminal justice reform, promising practices, investigation, responding to witnesses, pretrial, and trial strategies.
AEquitas: Established to Promote Justice in Violence Against Women Prosecution
The criminal justice system is a critical resource for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, and dating violence. As experienced prosecutors recognize, the concept of justice must also consider the victim’s safety, experience, and perspective. In order to provide the nation’s prosecutors with the support, information, training, mentorship, and resources necessary to objectively evaluate and constantly refine the prosecution of violence against women, several former prosecutors, a forensic nurse, and two national technical assistance providers created AEquitas: The Prosecutors’ Resource on Violence Against Women.
Domestic Violence and Firearms: A Deadly Combination
Nearly two-thirds of all women killed by firearms are killed by an intimate partner. Firearms are the most frequently used weapons in intimate partner homicide, eclipsing all other weapons combined. This article discusses the fundamentals of prosecuting the possession of firearms by prohibited persons generally, while focusing on issues involved in prosecuting domestic violence related firearms charges specifically, from both a state and federal perspective. The authors also examine the impact of the most recent U.S. Supreme Court firearms decisions on prosecuting domestic violence firearms charges.
