Prosecution of Domestic Violence Offenses: Executive Summary

• NCJ Number: 168056
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 11 pages
• Grant Number(s): 93-IJ-CX-0039
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Survey

Annotation

The prosecution of domestic assault throughout the United States was evaluated by means of a national mail survey of a representative sample of local prosecutors' office, three case studies, a survey of victims of domestic violence in two of the case-study jurisdictions, and a review of selected prosecution files at selected sites.

Abstract

The case studies were conducted in King County (Wash.), San Francisco County (Calif.), and Duluth, Minn. The preliminary results indicate an increased awareness among many prosecution offices throughout the country regarding the seriousness of domestic violence as a crime. Some prosecutors are adopting procedures that incorporate the assistance of victim advocates and victim services in conjunction with active prosecutorial tactics such as no-drop policies. In addition, some victims are actively participating in crucial phases of domestic violence prosecution. Thus, prosecutors' efforts to integrate the use of victim advocates in domestic violence cases may have a positive impact on victim participation. Overall, the findings suggest that while some prosecutors and victims attempt to build a unified front when addressing the crime of domestic assault, longstanding fears of the criminal justice system by victims and inadequate methods of overcoming those fears while successfully prosecuting these cases continues to be a problem in many prosecutors' offices. 8 references