Or egon Cr ime Vict ims Law Cent er Newsl et t er

Transcription

1 Or egon Cr ime Vict ims Law Cent er Newsl et t er UPDATEONOCVLC'S NEWSERVICESATTHE GATEWAYCENTER Apr il 2016 POST- CONVICTIONADVOCACY Assist ing cr imev ict ims af t er THETRIAL We ar e so excit ed t o place one of our new at t or neys at t he Gat eway Cent er f or Dom est ic Violence in Por t land st ar t ing in This collaborat ive ef f or t has been a gr eat way t o r each out t o even m or e vict im s and m eet t hem wher e t hey ar e alr eady r eceiving ser vices. So f ar, our Gat eway at t or ney Yazm in Wadia has: Since our founding, OCVLC has helped cr im e victim s advocate for their r ights not only dur ing the pr etr ial and tr ial pr ocess of a cr im inal case, but also dur ing post-conviction pr oceedings. Under Or egon law, victim s have r ights in appeals, post-conviction r elief, Psychiatr ic Super vision Review Boar d, and Par ole Boar d pr oceedings. Victim s?r ights also continue to apply thr oughout the tim e an offender is on pr obation or par ole. Below ar e som e exam ple cases w her e OCVLC has helped our clients asser t their r ights after conviction. - Advised vict im s about t heir r ight s in a cr im inal case, including what t he grand jur y pr ocess looks like and how t o apply f or Cr im e Vict im s Com pensat ion Par ol e Boar d h ear i n gs - Repr esent ed vict im s in cont est ed r est raining or der hear ings, and helped negot iat e m ut ually agr eed upon r esolut ions when appr opr iat e. - Accom panied a dom est ic violence vict im t o t he cr im inal t r ial. - Explained t he pr ocess of r epor t ing a cr im e t o vict im s. - Ref er r ed vict im s t o appr opr iat e r esour ces f or f am ily law and im m igrat ion m at t er s. OCVLC looks f or war d t o helping even m or e cr im e vict im s t hr ough our new ser vices at t he Gat eway Cent er. We hope in t he f ut ur e t o cont inue t o collaborat e wit h ot her count ies using t he f am ily just ice cent er m odel t o pr ovide ser vices t o vict im s of violence. In 1987, defendant Scott W ickee w as convicted of Aggr avated M ur der along w ith his co-defendant Kevin Roper in M ultnom ah County. The victim w as 20 year s old w hen he w as senselessly m ur der ed by the tw o m en. OCVLC has r epr esented the victim?s fam ily in sever al Par ole Boar d hear ings over the past few year s. At the latest hear ing in 2016, OCVLC accom panied the fam ily to the Par ole Boar d hear ing at the Or egon State Pr ison. OCVLC ar gued on behalf of the fam ily that inm ate W ickee should not be r eleased ear ly; our ar gum ent w as echoed by the M ultnom ah County Distr ict Attor ney?s office. Unfor tunately, the Par ole Boar d decided to r elease W ickee based on the latest psychological evaluations available. OCVLC is now w or king w ith the fam ily to ensur e that appr opr iate par ole conditions ar e set that pr ovide safety for the fam ily and the com m unity. Rest i t u t i on i ssu e i n Cl ack am as Cou n t y OCVLC w as contacted by a victim in a vehicular hom icide case in w hich her son, a passenger in the car, w as killed in a dr unk dr iving cr ash. The offender had fled the state for a num ber of year s befor e being br ought back to Or egon, sent to pr ison, and then par oled. The victim w as having difficulty r eceiving infor m ation fr om the offender?s par ole officer about a lar ge am ount of r estitution that had yet to be paid. OCVLC r epr esented the victim and helped her com m unicate w ith the Clackam as Par ole and Pr obation Depar tm ent in or der to obtain the infor m ation she w as seeking. 1

2 POST- CONVICTIONADVOCACYCONTINUED OCVLC w as able to assist the victim in obtaining infor m ation about w hether the offender had been given a plan to pay r estitution, w hat paym ents w er e being m ade, and w hether she w ould face sanctions for not com plying. The par ole officer has now been author ized to shar e m or e of this infor m ation dir ectly w ith the victim in the futur e. Psych i at r i c Su per v i si on Rev i ew Boar d case OCVLC w as r efer r ed a victim w hose offender had been sentenced to PSRB super vision for felony cr im es of dom estic violence against her. She had also obtained a per m anent stalking or der against him. This offender had pr eviously been convicted and placed on PSRB super vision for felony cr im es of dom estic violence against a pr evious par tner, but PSRB ter m inated his super vision ear ly in that case. Our client w as r efer r ed because the offender w as once again asking for ear ly ter m ination of his PSRB super vision. OCVLC r epr esented the victim at the PSRB hear ing and advocated for continued super vision of the offender in or der to keep the victim and her fam ily safe. Unfor tunately, because the tr eatm ent pr ovider s for the offender subm itted that he w as not suffer ing fr om a m ental disease or defect, the PSRB w as com pelled to ter m inate his super vision ear ly. OCVLC w as able to help explain the pr ocess and r esult to our client, and m ake sur e that she felt hear d at the hear ing. We also counseled her on futur e safety planning and w hat to do should the offender tr y to contact her or her fam ily in the futur e. m em ber w as told that nothing could be done to pr event this, despite the fact that the offender w ould be or der ed to stay m or e than 1,000 feet aw ay fr om the hom e of any of the victim?s fam ily. OCVLC r epr esented the fam ily in pr esenting the case to the Par ole Boar d and r equesting that the offender not be allow ed to live on that pr oper ty. The Par ole Boar d agr eed to the r equest, and the offender w as r equir ed to find a new place to live. Thr ough our case w or k and thr ough infor m ation pr ovided by com m unity par tner s, OCVLC has lear ned that the pr actices and policies of par ole and pr obation depar tm ents can var y gr eatly fr om county to county w hen it com es to how victim s ar e notified of changes in conditions, w hether sanctions have been or der ed, and the gener al status of a pr obation or par ole case. W hile som e counties ar e for thcom ing w ith infor m ation for victim s, other s tell victim s that due to?offender pr ivacy? infor m ation concer ning w hether the offender is r epor ting as scheduled cannot be shar ed. OCVLC w ould like to see victim s in ever y county getting consistent infor m ation. We ar e happy to speak w ith victim s state-w ide w ho ar e encounter ing issues getting this type of infor m ation post-conviction. Rel ease con di t i on s of par ol ees OCVLC has w or ked w ith a num ber of victim s thr oughout the state to r equest that the Par ole Boar d set specific conditions of r elease pr ior to an offender leaving pr ison. Recently w e w or ked w ith a client in Wasco County w ho w as facing the r elease of the offender w ho had killed her fam ily m em ber. The offender w as pr oposing to m ove into a house that w as less than 1,000 feet fr om one of the victim?s fam ily m em ber s. Initially, the fam ily 2

3 WHATOURCLIENTS ARESAYINGABOUT OCVLC'SSERVICES: "M y attor ney w as gr eat at listening and advising. She w as aw esom e in all com m unication and r esponding to m e." "Ever yone w as kind and helpful." SPOTLIGHTON COMMUNITY PARTNER: DVRC "They all show ed they car ed and w er e concer ned for m e and my son's safety, and did ever ything they could to help." "[M y attor ney] tr eated m e like this w as her num ber one pr ior ity...she com m unicated w ith m e in an effective and tim ely m anner w hich allow ed m e to do the sam e for my daughter and put her at ease that som eone w as going to pr otect her." "It 's so gr eat t o know t hat THISt y pe of or ganizat ion is out t her ef or v ict ims" The Dom est ic Violence Resour ce Cent er was est ablished in Oct ober 1975 in Beaver t on as Wom en Toget her, a com m unit y-based social gr oup st ar t ed by a dom est ic violence sur vivor t o addr ess t he needs of bat t er ed wom en in Washingt on Count y. DVRC is a non-pr of it agency pr oviding f r ee ser vices t o adult and child sur vivor s of dom est ic violence wit hin Washingt on Count y and sur r ounding ar eas, and is t he Count y's sole pr ovider of ser vices specif ically t o vict im s and sur vivor s of dom est ic violence. DVRC of f er s pr ot ect ive or der advocacy, pr of essional counseling, conf ident ial shelt er, 24-hr cr isis line r esponse, saf et y planning, r esour ce r ef er rals, and com m unit y t rainings. Lear n m or e at : c-or.org 3

4 HOUSINGCRISIS Or egon?s cur r ent housing cr isis, w hich cam e to the for efr ont of the new s last year, continue to im pact victim s of cr im e w ho seek new housing in or der to escape abuse. In October of 2015, Por tland officially declar ed a hom eless and housing em er gency. The pr oblem of r apidly clim bing r ents, and low availability of low -incom e and affor dable housing r em ains a state-w ide issue. Hom e pr ices also have r isen shar ply, by 10.7% over the last year, accor ding to Zillow. M ost counties in Or egon have ver y few shelter beds for dom estic and sexual violence victim s, and placing sur vivor s in tr ansitional and per m anent housing continues to be ver y difficult given the cur r ent housing landscape. The Or egon Legislatur e took on this issue in the 2016 shor t session, m oving new law s thr ough designed to help r enter s and pr eser ve affor dable housing. I n cr eased h ou si n g ex pen di t u r es: The Or egon Depar tm ent of Housing and Com m unity Ser vices w ill r eceive a $10 m illion incr ease to their budget for Em er gency Housing Assistance. Other budget incr eases w er e tar geted at pr eser vation of affor dable housing, continuing the for eclosur e legal assistance pr ogr am, and dir ected m oney tow ar d incr easing housing-r elated legal assistance. Ten an t pr ot ect i on s - HB 4143: This bill pr otects tenants state-w ide by r equir ing 90 days notice (instead of 30) for any r ent incr ease, and pr ohibits landlor ds fr om incr easing r ent for m onth-to-m onth tenants dur ing the fir st year of their occupancy. The City of Por tland pr eviously im plem ented a sim ilar law in late These new law s supplem ent r enter pr otections and pr otections for victim s of dom estic violence, stalking, and sexual assault that ar e alr eady on the books. If you ar e w or king w ith a cr im e victim exper iencing housing difficulties, check w ith your local Legal Aid office or contact the Or egon Housing and Com m unity Ser vices office for r esour ces. OCVLC is also available to pr ovide r efer r als and lim ited help w ith lease-br eaking for victim s. OTHERNOTABLENEWLAWS FROMTHE2016 SHORT SESSION SB CRIMINAL IMPERSONATION: This bil l makes it a crime t o impersonat e anot her person wit hout t heir consent resul t ing in t he harm of humil iat ion, harassment, or t hreat of physical harm. This bil l was designed t o address abusive behaviors such as impersonat ing a vict im on social media in order t o sol icit sexual act ivit y. Bef ore t his l aw, t his t ype of behavior coul d not be prosecut ed under our ident it y t hef t st at ut e because it did not invol ve f inancial f raud. SB MELISSA'S LAW: This bil l primaril y direct s every l aw enf orcement agency in Oregon t o adopt procedures regarding col l ect ion, t est ing, ret ent ion and dest ruct ion of sexual assaul t f orensic evidence kit s. These procedures must be in writ ing and avail abl e t o t he publ ic. SB STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS ON FIRST DEGREE SEX CRIMES: This bil l el iminat es t he st at ut e of l imit at ions on prosecut ion of f irst degree sex crimes if t here is new and corroborat ing evidence of t he crime, removing t he current 12 year st at ut e of l imit at ions. Thank you t o Sybil Hebb of t he Legisl at ive Al l iance t o End Viol ence Against Women f or providing inf ormat ion used in t his summary. 4

5 BOARDOFDIRECTORS NEWSTAFFMEMBER CAROLSCHRADER- PROJECTMANAGER Car ol r etur ns to OCVLC after a six m onth str ategic planning pr oject w ith the M ultnom ah County Dom estic Violence Coor dination Office. She has pr ior exper ience as an attor ney for dom estic violence sur vivor s, a m anager of cr im e victim s?r ights com pliance pr ojects w ith the Or egon Depar tm ent of Justice and National Cr im e Victim Law Institute, and as the executive dir ector of a sm all nonpr ofit. Car ol enjoys hiking, r eading a good book, visiting w ith fr iends, and m aking ice cr eam. st af f St ev edoel l Pr esident and f ounding member Shir l ey didier VicePr esident Er in ol son Tr easur er ANDFounding member Har dy my er s Founding member John st ein Founding member Pet er Gl azer Pet er Deuel Josh Lambor n CHRISMASCAL Rosemar y br ewer Executive Director mel anie kebl er Senior Staff Attorney nel ly Wr ight Staff Attorney Yazmin wadia Staff Attorney amanda bur net t Victim Advocate and Administrative Specialist WESERVEOREGON We ser ve client s acr oss t he st at e and we ar e looking f or m or e r ef er rals f r om out side t he gr eat er Por t land ar ea. Please cont act us t o r ef er a cr im e vict im who m ay benef it f r om our ser vices, or if you ar e an at t or ney int er est ing in volunt eer ing t o pr ovide pr o bono legal ser vices t o vict im s. 5

6 HOWTOCONTACTOCVLC Ph on e: Em ai l : i n f o@ocvl c.or g Fax : Tw itter Fr equent office visitor Bandit enjoys som e r elaxation tim e at the beach. Facebook YOUR DONATION HELPS CRIME VICTIMS OCVLC is a 501(c)(3) non-pr of it organizat ion f unded by grant s and pr ivat e donat ions. All of our legal ser vices ar e of f er ed at no cost t o t he cr im e vict im s we ser ve. By donat ing t o OCVLC, you can m ake a huge dif f er ence in t he lif e of a cr im e vict im. Cl ick here t o donat e 6