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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0021.118 2002-2004 JAY T. KIMUR4 PROSECUTING ATTORNEY J??~'~F•~ HILO. HAWA118720 ' PH. 9fi'I-0466 CHARLENE Y. IBOSHI FAX: s6i-asoa ~ 934-3403 FIRS T DEPUTY 934-3503 PROSECUTING ATTORNEV WEST HAWgII UNIT • eti~~p P O BOX 746 h oi•rt~ KEALAKEKUA, HAWAII 96750 PH. 322-2552 FAX: 322-6584 OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY 0 DATE: March 12, 2004 p ~ c - j, TO: James Y. Arakaki Council Chair and s Council Members = z _ ~ FROM: Jay T. Kimura o RE: FINAL REPORT c , Name of Grant Program: Domestic Violence Prosecution Federal or State Grantor: Federal County Grantee Department or Agency: Office of the Prosecuting Attorney Grant No. (IF KNOWN): O1-WF-08 Amount of Grant: $47,700 Amount of County Match: $15,900 Grant Period (Commencement & Completion): 11/16/02 - 6/15/03 Goals: See attached Objectives: See attached Outcomes or Results: See attached Comm. No. 2 Ref. To: Ref. Date B_ PROGRESS & FINAL REPORT Project Grant No. O1-WF-08 Project Title: Domestic Violence Prosecution Agency: Office of the Prosecuting Attornev County of Hawaii Report Period: November 16.2002 to June 15 2003 PROGRAM DESCRIPTION Sexual and physical violence against adult women in Hawaii County continued to be a serious problem. These cases remain complex and demanding such that they require specialized training and knowledge for successful prosecution. The Office of the Prosecuting Attorney continues to recognize that there are unique issues that need to be recognized and addressed during the prosecution of these types of cases. Project staffing was stable throughout the project period. was reflected in the project statistics. Although the project The project year started with the project deputy being out on extended sick leave until January 8, 2002. Due to physical limitations upon his return on January 8, 2002 and during his absence, project cases were assigned to non-project deputies in order to assure vertical prosecution until final resolution. A family court deputy was reassigned to the project on June 4, 2002. Her work prosecuting misdemeanor domestic violence cases in family court provided a smooth transition into the project. The former project deputy now supervises the project deputy. PROJECT GOAL The goal of the project is to improve the prosecution of cases involving sexual or physical violence against adult women. PROJECT OBJECTIVES 1. To vertically prosecute at least 50% of all jury trials that involve sexual and physical violence crimes against women. 2. To improve the prosecution of "violence against adult women" by the development of written procedures for case coordination between the different units with the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney. 3. To improve the prosecution of sexual assault cases against adult women by meeting quarterly with the police and SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners) to review and discuss protocols/procedures and ways to improve the system. 4. To improve the prosecution of domestic violence cases against adult women by meeting quarterly with police and DVIAT (Domestic Violence Interagency Team) to review and discuss procedures. 5. To improve the evaluation process of how sexual and physical violence cases against adult women are handles by developing computer-generated statistical reports to measure: a) the length of time it takes to prosecute a case; b) the number and types of amendments or reductions to charges; and c) the conviction rates for cases handled by the project deputy as compared to those handled by other deputies. PERFORMANCE INDICATORS Procedures previously developed were implemented to identify, assign, and route project cases to the project deputy. Ideally, all cases involving physical violence against adult women aze routed to the project supervisor for initial review. The police investigation is reviewed and assignment is made. The goal is to have at least 50% of these cases assigned to the project deputy. Coordination with the victim assistance and investigator units resulted in assignments of personnel to assist the project deputy. Since this project overlaps several other units that specialize in sexual assaults and domestic violence, personnel from these areas are tasked to assist the project deputy. Meetings are regularly held between deputy prosecutors, police, SANE, BICAPSA and DVIAT. While the project deputy may not be actually attending these meetings he/she is kept abreast of what is discussed and reviewed. Work on developing computer-generated statistical reports was done and a useable report was developed. The report still requires some manual compilation due to the limitations of our case tracking system. SUMMARY OF PROJECT TO DATE The project progressed very well through its fifth yeaz. The project deputy was assigned 82% of the project cases opened between November 16, 2002 and June 15, 2003, well exceeding the project objective of 50%. The conviction rate for project cases in the fourth year was 85%. The conviction rate for the project deputy was 100% compazed to 67% for non-project deputies. The overall conviction rate dropped from the previous project year. i The average length of time to prosecute the cases for the project deputy was 91 days compared to 106 days for non-project deputies. The project has continually seen an improvement in this area since inception in 1998. Interagency coordination and consistent implementation of procedures has resulted in improving the average length of prosecution time by nearly 50%, from 184 days for the project deputy and 167 days for the non-project deputies in the first yeaz.