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Show Page IB Lakeside Review Wednesday, July 3, 1985 Victims Rights ; ; v,, One Familys Story: Still Searching for Fairness "It does seem odd that if I hit you with my automobile I am... required to make you whole again, whereas if I hit you with a club or with a bullet from my gun I go to jail, leaving you to fend for yourself. If I am required to return you to the prior status quo in the former case, then 'a fortiori I ought to be required to do so when I intentionally harm you. Selection from Pepper dine Law Review, Victims Rights, Volume II new eye socket. Small pins were placed inside the skin around the socket. He couldnt pick up his new little baby, mow the lawn, play tennis, golf or jog. He was to start traveling and training in his job because of a new promotion, Mrs. Smith says. But he had to stay in the hospital for another two weeks. Now, doctors can see the eye settling a little and are afraid they will have to operate again. The afternoon of the incident, , CHERYL ARCHIBALD Review For a week she called around trying to find a lawyer to give them information and represent them. They were either told the lawyer didnt handle that type of case or were asked, Why didnt you go in the house? They were told if they had shot the guy between the eyes they would have had more rights than they did in the assault case. Finally, after the Smiths LDS bishop did some research, they discovered they had already been 'A Staff Steve Smith, (not his real name), a resident of Davis County, went outside to check on his two preschool children one Sunday last March. The events that followed in the will effect both he next half-hoand his family for the rest of their , ur lives. He was the innocent victim of another mans aggression. As he walked down the street, he heard yelling he soon learned was coming from another house y in a family argument. Two men were leaving in a car with a small baby. Smith, a young father himself, felt sorry for the young child and slowed the car down by yelling, Stop. What you are doing is not child-custod- right. The car stopped. But the men inside the vehicle were irrational with rage and a fight ensued with others who had gathered by the street. One neighbor received a broken nose, the other was thrown into the street by one of the men in the car. Smith felt so bad for his neighbors, he tried to retrieve ones glasses from the ground as one of the men came near. 1 could not believe he (one man from the car) was coming toward me because I had not done anything. He recalls thinking how much bigger the man was than himself and he stepped back to let him go by. The next thing he knew he was lying on the grass. The bone around his eye was shattered clear to his ear, Steves wife says. He ended up in the hospital having surgery to build a . The thing that bothers me the most is how unfair it is. If I had to do it all over again, Id have got my kids, come in the house and closed the door. Assault . Victim the two men were arrested and placed in jail. The next day, the two men were out of jail on bail. Mrs. Smith feared they would come back and hurt her or her children, she recalls. Anyone who could do what they did to Steve - you dont know what else they might do, she says. She was not unusual in her re- action. Most victims of crimes rape, are afraid burglary or assault their attacker will come back to hurt or rob them again. She was to experience another feeling most victims feel - that of not knowing anything. I sat there wondering, what is going on and where are the police? It was the first time Smith had ever been hospitalized. Because they had never been involved in a court case before, the Smiths didnt know there would be a preliminary hearing, that the case would be tried in circuit court in the nearest large city first and then would proceed to the district court. All I know is I think Im the good guy and hes the bad, Smith says lightly. But he admits he .is very bitter. They dont tell us anything, Mrs. Smith says. appointed a lawyer by the county. We went a whole week before we even found out we had an attorney, Mrs. Smith says. Theyll tell you things if you ask. But we felt like we were being snoopy, out of our bounds. It was like extracting teeth to get information. The Smith children, who witnessed the attack, still have nightmares. Mrs. Smith shakes when she repeats the story - something she has had to do over and over for friends and those in the system of law. The Smiths feel there are three things the system could do to help other victims of crime. I think Davis County needs someone to come in and explain the system - court dates, why it takes so long. If wed had that, it would have been better. The system should explain how to obtain a lawyer, they say. Were worrying about money. We could use some kind of a fund until restitution can be made, Smith says. Counseling to help cope would be helpful also. We had the fear the men would come back, we worry about money. Im losing sleep, worrying about the future, Smith says. Its to the point where weve Photo Illustration by Robert Regan thought of moving. But that would be too expensive for the young family. The thing that bothers me the most is how unfair it is, Smith says. If I had to do it all over ; again. I'd have got my kids, come, . in the house and closed the; door. in Their Victims Dark About Crime Leaves Rights System Justice , though due to the ac- cused, is due the accuser also. The But they are not the only helpless victims. The elderly, sometimes unable concept of fairness must not be strained till it is narrowed to a fil to even walk or phone for help ament. We are to keep the bal- under ordinary circumstances, are ance true. Somewhere along the completely at the mercy of the way the system began to serve criminal first and then the judicial and law enforcement system lawyers and judges and defeninlater. with victim the dants, treating stitutionalized disinterest. Grocery store owners are often Benjamin N. Cardozo, former robbed, their lives threatened. Homeowners are victimized by United States Supreme Court Justice. . Victims of crime come from all cultures and neighborhoods, economic status and religions, ages and educational backgrounds. They all have one thing in common - they are, for the most part, left in the dark about their rights and what is going on in the system after they are victimized. Children, assaulted or abused by adults, may be the most helpless victims of all, since they live under fear of threats of more abuse should they reach out for help. burglars. As one burglary victim, Mrs. Mitch Bogue, expressed it, No one will tell us anything. We dont know why we cant get our things back, even though weve been told the guy has been put in jail. She also doesnt understand why she and her husband were never called on to testify against the man. Husbands and wives are often the victims of assault following domestic arguments. Common reactions to tales of crime and abuse from those lending an ear or supposedly trying to what did you do to provoke the action, why didnt you lock your doors, you shouldnt put yourself in the position where you can be attacked, and on and on. Recently, conferences such as the statewide victims rights conference last April, have exposed the problem of victims rights to the community. The conferences have done much to form victim aid programs. Although there is absolutely ,no budget for the program, Gayle Smith, deputy with the Davis County Sheriffs Department, has put together a Rights program outline from suggestions of law enforcement, judicial and legislative officials. In the Sheriffs Victim Response Unit, Davis County crime victims, under advice of sheriffs detectives at the scene, will be asvolunteer signed consultants help are, victims advocates. Other things not outlined in File cards will be kept on 10 swer victims questions and prodifferent consultant advocates vide emotional support by the program can be changed. Im task explaining about investigations, on the Governor-appointe- d listing their special areas of experarrests, prosecution, sentencing force for victims rights. The pritise. and probationparole of the crim- mary task is to write legislation, Some may handle childrens inal. Ms. Smith says. cases better than others, she exA fund is already seP up for They will aid in finding shelter, plained. food and clothing and transportavictims of drunk drivers. A fee is paid into the fund by the blind, tion where needed. Special victims Consultants will accompany convicted drunken drivers to be the handicapped, the elderly who are terrorized, children, deaf victims to interviews and to used as restitution for harm done court. Separate rooms will be by the drivers drinking. g ; mutes and peofound for victims so they will not To aid in prosecuting child sex- will have special help. ple, ual abuse offenders, a special vid-- 1 Ms. Smith is enlisting the help . have to sit across from defendeor their dants and relatives of an employee of the sheriffs eotape room is being installed at ; friends. educathe county sheriffs offices. Testi ; a former special partment, A procedure is being developed monies of children, given in a tion teacher, to draw up a calm atmosphere with the aid of ' whereby property seized as eviprogram for special victims. Consultants will be matched to dence can be photographed and anatomically correct dolls is now the victims needs, Ms. Smith the photographs used in the trial permissible in Utah State courts. so property can be returned soonThe Davis County Sheriffs said. victims. er to Victim will crime Response Unit is avail-- , report at the They Consultants will not divulge able to city police departments scene or the hospital. They will for a fee, Ms. Smith says. be on the case for its duration, any confidential matters. is In time, this and other proRestitution ordered Ms. Smith says, until assistance already in every case where it can apply. grams may prevent the innocent is no longer needed. There is no money anywhere to from being victimized by crimiThey will be a wealth of infornals once and by the system help before restitution is ormation, Ms. Smith says. again. Trained consultants will an dered, Ms. Smith says. , foreign-speakin- Judges View: Restitution Should be Ordered in Many Cases Though crimes causing bodily harm are more publicized, locally there are more victims of robberies, says 2nd District Court Judge Rodney S. Page. . To compensate those victims, restitution is ordered in every case, he said. Page is concerned about victims rights, a new movement in the United States that could be a sign the pendulum is swinging away from an obsession with rights of the accused. It may be that laws protecting criminals have gone to far and the trend is reversing itself, he said. The law demanding criminals . be read their rights before being arrested was directed at eliminating abuse by police officers, Page said. Victims need to know their rights, he said. For example, most victims dont realize reading a person his rights does not apply to civil judgements. A person can take a criminal to civil court in many cases, as an alternative. . Davis County has a compara- tively short waiting time. Lengthy trials are not a problem here. The average is 90 days after binding over after the accused is sent to district court to be tried, Page said. Victims of crimes against property can be compensated by restitution, Page said. In Davis all money paid to victims is collected in the Davis County Clerks office. Davis probably has the most accidents caused by DUI offenders. Victims of sexual crimes or assault are more difficult to pay restitution to. Page said. The biggest emphasis now is to educate victims and assist them in knowing the system and system, he said. It is computerized and han- point them toward counseling. dled through the Adult Probation Restitution is taking a second and Parole. Each judge gets a seat to education. Victims rights groups, such as print out on probations and what Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, theyve paid. A fine is a penalty, whereas are being formed. All such groups restitution goes to the victim. A are private, volunteer groups. $100 fee for driving under the inId rather see it be done by fluence of alcohol (DUI) goes involunteer groups," Page said. to a victim restitution fund to The groups lend psychological pay restitution to other victims of support, and have been helpful in te f' i. getting legislation passed protect- ing victims and making it easier for them to testify against the criminal. A child can now testify out of court by video, Page said because of a law passed in the last Utah Legislature. Statements by younger children taped on videos are now admissible in court cases. Education also involves teaching people more about the court system in general. We want the victim to feel hes had some input all along some participation all along, so -- Ill know his feelings, Page said. One way to do this is to make victim input statements available for victims to write what they feel. Someone needs to contact the victim about options, rights and procedures, Page said. I think within the next two months well see programs set up all along the Wasatch Front. A victimwitness program is now being set up that will have representatives from the courts, , , sheriffs departments, probationparole departments and at- torneys offices within the state. The program needs to be at the victim level - at the point of first contact with the police, Page said. ) i . |
