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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0021.122 2002-2004 JAY T. KIMURA 34 RAINBOW DRNE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY ~.;MS'1'~~'~ HILO. PH 861-07486 CHARLENE Y. IBOSHI FAX: a61-6906 ' 934-3403 F IRST DEPUTY ~ 934-3503 PROSECUTING ATTORN EY , . WEST HAWAII UNIT ~ P.O. BOX 746 ~;~,,,,N~,~~` KEALAKEKUA, HAWA1196750 M PH. 322-2552 FAX: 322-6584 OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY Gl l/ O n ~ - C n, ~ a N r-. DATE: March 12, 2004 ~ s - .L - TO: James Y. Arakaki Council Chair and ~ H-~ Council Members o - , - fV FROM: Jay T. Kimura RE: FINAL REPORT Name of Grant Program: Domestic Violence Prosecution Federal or State Grantor: Federal- ~C~ ~ d'Gui A~'-1-o~2e{~ C`~Cti~-~"~'~ County Grantee Department or Agency: Office of the Prosecuting Attorney Grant No. (IF KNOWN): 00-WF-09 Amount of Grant: $78,861 Amount of County Match: $26,287 Grant Period (Commencement & Completion): 11/16/01 - 11/15/02 Goals: See attached Objectives: See attached Outcomes or Results: See attached Comm. No. ~ • ZL Ref. To: Ref. Dote Y u~ P~~;,~,~Z{y ~ ~ ~ stied PROGRESS REPORT Y V ~/1" Project Grant No. 00-WF-09 4~1 "U Project Title: Domestic Violence Prosecution f ra - ~ / ic~a- Agency: Office of the Prosecuting Attornev. County of Hawaii ~y~~~~-y~~~~~ Report Period: November 16, 2001 to November 15.2002 a.(~l_ _ _ d/.~~3 E~ PROGRAM DESCRIPTION ~ ~ J~ft, 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. 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 al] 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 ]east 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 regulazly held between deputy prosecutors, police, SANE, 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 In spite of personnel setback, the project is continuing to progress well as it completes its fourth yeaz. From November 16, 2001 to June 3, 2002, due to extended absence and physical limitations of the project deputy, no cases were assigned to the project deputy. However, from June 4, 2002 to November 15, 2002 the project deputy was assigned 58% of the project cases. This exceeds the project objective of 50%. The conviction rate for project cases in the fourth year was 96%. The conviction rate for the project deputy was 95% and 96% for non-project deputies. The conviction rate remained constant from the previous reporting period and the previous year. The average length of time to prosecute the cases for the project deputy was 121 days compared to 127 days for non-project deputies. The amount of time has remained relatively constant from the previous reporting period. The time element of processing these cases does vary depending on various factors including the victim's readiness. Through interagency coordination and consistent implementation of procedures processing time appeazs to be reduced and stablized since the first year where the average prosecution time for the project deputy was 184 days and 167 days for non-project deputies. VAWA PROJECT STATISTICS November 16, 2001 to November 16, 2002 During the period covering October 22, 2001 until January 8, 2002 the project deputy was on extended sick leave. Due to certain physical limitations the project deputy was unable to continue prosecuting the project cases after his return to work on January 8, 2002. The result was a transition period from January 8, 2002 until June 4, 2002. In order to assure vertical prosecution, all of the project cases were reassigned to non- project deputies until final resolution. During the period covering June 4, 2002 until November 16, 2002 a family court deputy was reassigned to assume the role of project deputy. The family court deputy had been previously assigned to prosecute misdemeanor domestic violence cases in the family court. Total Number of Project Cases: 59 Total Number of Project Cases Resolved (11/16/01 to 11/15/02): 43 Total Number of Project Cases Pending Resolution: 16 Total Number of Project Cases (11/16/01 to 6/4/02): 33 Total Number of Project Cases (6/4/02 to 11/15/02): 26 Overall Percentage of Cases Handled by Project DPA: 25% (15/59) Percentage of Cases Handled by Project Deputy (11/16/01 to 6/4/02): 0% (0/33) Percentage of Cases Handled by Project Deputy (6/4/02 to 11/15/02): 58% (15/26) Overall Conviction Rate for Project Cases: 96% Conviction Rate for Non-Project Deputy: 96% Conviction Rate for Project Deputy: 95% Average Length of Time to Prosecute Case for Project Deputy: 121 days Average Length of Time to Prosecute Case for Non-Project Deputy: 127 days