Chapter Nine: Defendants and Victims

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Chapter NineDefendants and Victims
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• Defendants and Victims
• are participants of the courtroom workgroup.
• Defendants and Victims
• are both subjects and objects
• of the criminal justice process.

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The Defendant
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• Although defendants are
• the focal point of the criminal justice process,
• they are generally powerless
• in controlling their fate.

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• Seriousness of the Crime
• and
• Prior Record
• are the two main determinants
• of legal diversity among defendants
• within the criminal justice system.
• First time offender? ?Career Offender

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Felony Defendant Characteristics
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Characteristics of Defendants
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• As a society, whose rights
• are more important to protect,
• the defendants rights
• Or,
• the victims rights?

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Victims and Witnesses
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• Witnesses are not necessarily victims,
• however,
• victims may be the only witness.
• Collectively then, the victim and witness
• provide the raw material
• for the court process.

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Victims and Witnesses
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• On one hand, courts value victims
• because they bring the cases
• to the criminal justice system.
• Thus, courts are reactive to the
• complaints that victims bring.

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Victims and Witnesses
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• On the other hand,
• individual victims and witnesses
• pose a potential source of irrationality
• in the process.

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Victims and Witnesses
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• As a result, on one hand,
• eyewitness testimony can be
• very convincing to a judge or jury.
• On the other hand, mistaken eyewitness
• identification is responsible for more wrongful
  convictions than all other causes combined,
  (Huff et al., 1996).

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Victim Participation in the Court Process
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Victim Participation in the Court Process
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Characteristics of Victims of Violent Crime
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• How do Victim and Offender
• characteristics interact with
• the crime of
• domestic violence?

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• Many defendants who have been
• arrested for violent crimes
• were themselves the victims
• of violent acts as children.

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Law Relating to Victims
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• Discussion
• What was the nature of the
• Supreme Court decision in
• Payne vs. Tennessee (1991)?
• How does it affect victims?
• Is it sound policy?

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Questions
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• Since all major stages of the criminal justice
  process (except the grand jury) are mandated to
  be open to the public,
• why do we need a
• Victims Bill of Rights?
• Should it be a
• U.S. Constitutional amendment?

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Questions
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• What should be the goal of
• victims rights organizations?
• Who should compensate victims?
• and, how should we do this?
• What are the Victim and Witness Protection Act
  (1982) and the Victim of Crimes Act (1984)?