NCJ Number
74899
Date Published
1977
Length
35 pages
Annotation
This report focuses on ways to increase witness attendance at trials, or to find alternatives to formal proceedings which will not make victim and witness attendance in criminal court mandatory.
Abstract
The Victim/Witness Assistance Project, of which this report is a part, is a cooperative venture of the New York City Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, the King's County District Attorney's office, the New York City Courts, and the New York City Police Department, and is administered by the Vera Institute of Justice. Although it had been in operation 3 years at the time this report was issued, the project had not achieved its major stated objective of increasing witness participation in court proceedings through relevant improvements in the criminal justice system. The project had been more successful in working towards significant cost and time savings, but the rate of adjournments or dismissals caused by victims' and witnesses' failure to appear in court had not decreased. During the period covered by this reprot, several new procedures were instituted, including a final disposition notification system, notifications of designated felonies in family court, return of property in cases disposed at arraignment, and an experimental program of mediation instead of formal prosecution for some prior relationship (between victims and offenders) cases. The project has revealed, not unexpectedly, that present court proceedings appear to penalize witnesses and victims, to whom no inconveniences are spared in connection with their mandatory appearances at trials. Statistics, tables, figures, and footnotes are included in the text relating to notification and appearance of complainants and witnesses, including police witnesses.