Taking the Next Step in the Legal Response to Domestic Violence: the Need to Reexamine Specialized Domestic Violence Courts from a Victim Perspective

Abstract

INTRODUCTION S.S. and R.T.'s story involved many of the elements common to domestic violence cases: multiple instances of physical, verbal, and psychological abuse of S.S. by her ex-boyfriend R.T.; initial reluctance on S.S.'s part to report the incident to the authorities out of hope that the violence would simply cease; and the eventual arrest of and entry of order of protection against R.T. that he repeatedly violated, resulting in the filing of additional charges against him. (1) As these charges moved into court, S.S. assisted the prosecution by providing detailed written depositions outlining the history and circumstances of the altercations between her and R.T. (2) Soon afterwards, the case, People v. Tancredi--like many others involving multiple, interconnected matters related to domestic violence in New York--ended up in one of the state's Integrated Domestic Violence (IDV) courts. (3) Then, less than a month after R.T. was arraigned in IDV court, his attorney filed a separate lawsuit on S.S.'s behalf, alleging that certain state actors had violated her civil rights by coercing her into testifying. (4) Given the essential role S.S. was playing in the prosecution, the state immediately filed a motion to appoint independent counsel for her. (5) The IDV court, recognizing elements of domestic violence in R.T.'s actions, readily granted the motion: This Court is part of the community's coordinated response to domestic It would be contrary to our purpose and mission, if individuals charged with domestic violence offenses are permitted to utilize such a questionable attorney client relationship, as a sword, and thereby strategically block the prosecution of their cases.... Victims of domestic violence often fail to follow through with their initial willingness to cooperate with the People's prosecution. Many victims return to their abusive partners due to financial concerns ... [or] due to fear for their safety or that of their family and children. And for some women, having become so entrenched in a cycle of abuse and violence, they return out of habit. By inducing, or by merely permitting a victim to enter into attorney-client relationship with them, it is conceivable that the attorney participates knowingly or otherwise in the defendant's strategy of coercive (6) The court thus undertook to provide the victim with a list of advocate organization[s] to facilitate her access to an independent and experienced attorney who is fully familiar with the special and unique dynamics of representing a victim of domestic violence. (7) Tancredi offers a view into the ways in which specialized domestic violence courts, like the IDV court highlighted in the case, can offer effective response to what has been recognized as a societal epidemic of domestic (8) These courts--although they take slightly different forms in each of the jurisdictions in which they are implemented--are typically defined by a docket dedicated solely to domestic violence-related matters, court personnel trained in intimate panner violence, and close ties to community organizations that offer, among other things, batterer intervention programs and victim support. Whereas a non-specialized court's lack of resources might have prevented it from giving due attention to the state's motion, the Tancredi court was able to analyze in detail the issues it presented. Further, rather than simply assuming that order of protection alone would keep S.S. safe, the Tancredi court--because of its specialized training in domestic violence--remained attuned to the ways R.T. could harm her, even recognizing how his supposedly benevolent move of aiding S.S. in seeking legal redress for violation of her civil rights might fit into his pattern of manipulation and control. Finally, the court's alliances with domestic violence related community organizations allowed it to facilitate S. …