NCJ Number
178975
Journal
Prosecutor Volume: 33 Issue: 4 Dated: July/August 1999 Pages: 28-30-32,34,35
Date Published
1999
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the role of victims in criminal investigations and prosecutions.
Abstract
The article describes the history and policy supporting involvement of victims in criminal investigations, focusing on the insurance industry’s historic and consistent support for those principles. The principles demonstrate why prosecutors should continue to rely on victim assistance as they feel appropriate and why any further limitations on this cooperation should be discouraged. Prosecutors often rely on crime victims as crucial sources of information and may choose to make use of victim information and resources in making prosecutorial decisions. Any efforts to require a wall of separation between prosecutors and victims should be rejected as counterproductive and unnecessary for any public policy or constitutional reason. The article examines People v. Eubanks, and its limited application in situations where victims are cooperating in an investigation by conducting their own investigation, responding to inquiries or providing information to law enforcement. Notes