Washington Coalition of Crime Victim Advocates

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 22, 2010

PRIVACY AND SAFETY OF VICTIMS AND WITNESS OF CRIME THREATENED BY PROPOSED COURT RULES

Leavenworth, WA – Victim advocates around the state are outraged over two court rules under consideration which could have devastating effects on crime victims and witnesses if adopted.

Criminal Rule 4.8 is an amended rule on subpoenas which would allow any attorney – whether for the prosecution or the defense – to subpoena the records of a witness without approval from the court. The rule would also grant attorneys the ability to search a private individual’s property, although permission for this must first be obtained from a judge.

“We are concerned that the privacy and property rights of ordinary citizens would be undermined if this rule goes into effect,” said Karla Krautscheid, Interim Executive Director for the Washington Coalition of Crime Victim Advocates. Krautscheid disapproves that a witness – who is unfamiliar with the criminal justice system and usually does not have an attorney – would have to petition the court themselves to quash such a subpoena.

Andrea Piper, Executive Director for the Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, agrees. “Individuals may not realize they have rights as victims, nor do they always know how to assert those rights, in particular privacy rights.”

Alarm has also been raised by the victim advocacy community regarding a proposed new criminal rule on recording witnesses.

Criminal Rule 4.11 would require victims and witnesses to submit to audio recordings of pretrial interviews. Currently, witnesses have the choice to have their interviews recorded or not. The new rule would put the choice in the hands of the interviewer, not the witness.

“Supporters of this rule seek to use victims and witnesses as mere objects that should be told what to do or else. Many victims have already been given this message by the accused, just to have it repeated by defense counsel forcing an audiotape recording on them,” said Stanley Phillips, a victims advocate at the Thurston County Crime Victim Service Center. Jenny Wieland, Executive Director of Families and Friends of Violent Crime Victims believes that, “forcing crime victims and witnesses to relive the traumatic events of crime on an audiotape is blatantly unfair and unnecessary.”

Krautscheid stated she was concerned what would happen with the recordings. “There is language attempting to protect the recordings from public distribution, but it cannot be guaranteed,” she said. “It is horrifying to think what could happen if the audio recording a sexual assault victim recounting their story or a witness of gang violence who cooperate with pressing charges were to get out. The information could be send over the Internet or via cell phones in a matter of minutes, which would be humiliating at best and life-threatening to the witness at worst.”

There is also worry about the way the new rule would impact children and developmentally disabled individuals, as they would also be subject to the new rule. Laurie Lippold, the Director of Public Policy for the Children’s Home Society of Washington is particularly concerned. “The additional trauma experienced by a child witness/victim [in the criminal justice system] should be minimized, not exacerbated by the judicial system, “ said Lippold in a letter to the State Supreme Court.

“Crime victim advocates are united in their opposition to these proposed rules,” Krautscheid said. “The public needs to know that their rights are being eroded through the little-known process of making court rules. It’s not elected officials fighting for these rule changes; it is lawyers – mostly defense attorneys.”

The Board of Governors for the Washington State Bar will hold a public meeting Friday and Saturday, July 23-24 in Leavenworth, WA to discuss these proposed changes. If approved, the rules would then be submitted to the State Supreme Court for final consideration for adoption before being enacted.

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