Crime Victims Have Rights Too
I’ve been getting a lot of calls lately from people telling me they have been the victim of a crime. It’s true that normally I represent people who have been arrested and charged with a crime. Sometimes, I do represent victims.
It is common that crime victims don’t get the support they need from police, prosecutors and the court system. While there are systems in place to help crime victims, those systems are overburdened with virtually unmanageable case loads and more serious cases that tend to take priority.
What to do if you are the victim of a crime and don’t know where to turn? What to do if you are really not the victim of crime but the police think you are? Where does one turn?
The answer is to do two things: If you are truly the victim of crime, you should be the squeaky wheel. Find out who the investigating police officer is on your case. Check in with him/her via phone or email to keep up on the status of the case. Communicate with the District Attorney’s office about your case. Find out who the prosecutor is who is assigned to your case. Call them. Make sure they have all of your correct contact information and make sure that they know you war willing to cooperate in their case.
Many local prosecutors have “victim’s advocates” who act as a liaison between the prosecutor and the victim. Call them. Talk to them. Tell them if you were injured, if you are seeking restitution, that you want to be kept informed about the proceedings. This is their job. They get paid by the county to help people just like you in situations just like this.
There is a California fund that was established years ago to help crime victims with out of pocket expenses. Consider making a claim to the Victim’s Restitution Fund, if appropriate. The victim’s advocate may be able to help you with this.
Option two is to consider hiring a lawyer. You may have to pay the lawyer hourly wages for his/her time. This could ad up to a lot of money. Sometimes the lawyer fees are recoverable as restitution or payable through the State Restitution Fund. Sometimes they are not.
This option is also best if you are seeking to advocate a position to the prosecution. If you do not want to prosecute a case. If you don’t want to testify. If you need help understanding your rights and what you really are or are not obligated to do. For example, when a police officer says: “I need you to….” What does that really mean? Were you validly served with a subpoena or otherwise ordered to go to court or did some lazy DA simply mail a subpoena to your house on the hope that you would want to cooperate with a prosecution?
These questions and more are things you would discuss with your lawyer. Every criminal case is different. Every set of facts is different. Every complaining witness or “victim”, in every case has a different desired outcome. Sometimes, the right lawyer can help to achieve that outcome.
If you are the victim of a crime, you have rights and you have resources. You may even want to call a lawyer to help:
Attorney Jeffrey Vallens (818) 783-5700 or email me at: vallenslaw@yahoo.com
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