ANNOUNCEMENT OF VICTIM/WITNESS SUPPORT STRATEGY Remarks of Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley October 10, 2002 Police and prosecutors rely upon the cooperation of victims and witnesses to solve crimes and put dangerous offenders behind bars. When any participant in the system - an attorney, a witness, a victim, a judge or a juror - acts in a manner that undermines the pursuit of truth and justice, our system's promise of equal justice for all is put at risk. In the time since I became district attorney, a number of cases have arisen that have highlighted for all of us issues of victim and witness intimidation and perjury. Earlier this summer, I began a discussion with Commissioner Evans and Superintendent Joyce, Reverend Eugene Rivers, Minister Don Muhammad, and other members of the clergy, as well as concerned residents like Mike Kozu and Dan Richardson, who help lead the Grove Hall Safe Neighborhood Initiative. We talked about the prevalence of this problem in Suffolk County and what needed to be done to encourage victims and witnesses to cooperate with authorities and reduce incidents of fear and intimidation. The recent case involving Boston Celtics player Paul Pierce has brought renewed attention to this issue. But the sad fact is that we deal with similar cases on an almost daily basis in Suffolk County. Prosecutors in my office estimate that issues of intimidation, victims and witnesses refusing to cooperate or recanting earlier sworn testimony occur in up to 90 percent of all cases involving guns or gangs or serious violence. Proving intimidation and perjury are extremely difficult. But prosecutors and police regularly hear the same fears voiced by victims and witnesses, who share the same neighborhoods and are often familiar to the defendant in the case. Some of the tactics routinely used to either implicitly or explicitly intimidate witnesses include: · Packing courtrooms with fellow gang members and associates of defendants charged in violent crimes. Earlier this year, a woman who was called to testify against a gang member charged in a shooting entered the courtroom, saw the benches filled with friends of the defendant, and turned right around and left the courtroom. She cried to the victim-witness Advocate that she might as well just put a bulls-eye on her back. · Also, the dissemination of grand jury minutes or police reports containing the names of witnesses who cooperate with authorities. In one case, shortly after defense counsel was provided with grand jury minutes, Boston Police Gang Unit Officers began to hear word that the minutes were being circulated in he community and witnesses were being confronted. Gang members who apparently had nothing to do with the shooting were stopped by police over a traffic violation and in the car officers found copies of the grand jury testimony. One of the occupants of the car then told police that copies of the testimony had been taped to all of the front doors in a nearby housing project. When this kind of intimidation becomes common in the criminal justice system and affects sworn testimony - and in Suffolk County, I can tell you that it does so far too often - a larger issue presents itself: namely, the credibility of the criminal justice system's promise of equal justice for all. In the overwhelming majority of these types of cases, the victims and witnesses are typically poor, people of color, who share the same neighborhoods as the assailant and the assailant's friends. Under such circumstances, witnesses and even victims often perceive themselves as being in a no-win situation. Either give truthful testimony and possibly suffer consequences in their own neighborhood; or commit perjury and risk jail. This is a choice that victims and witnesses of even modest means rarely have to make. We are here today to put forward a plan that aims to change attitudes and perceptions from the ground up, and prevent further abuses that undermine our system and ultimately, undermine public safety. First, we intend to change attitudes in every community so that all people recognize their responsibilities when they participate in the criminal justice system. We'll accomplish this by sending teams of prosecutors, police, victim-witness advocates and clergy to witnesses and victims to lend support, identify problems, and remind them of their responsibilities. We're also calling upon neighborhood organizations and crime watch groups to actually come to court with witnesses, lend moral support and send a message to defendants and their friends that residents will not live in fear. Second, we intend to provide victims and witnesses with the support and resources they need to cooperate with authorities without fear. Boston police and the district attorney's office will provide training for residents and even clergy to better assist victims and witnesses to violent crime as they proceed through the system so that, whether at the courthouse or at home and in the community, a supportive network is in place. We're also calling upon the Legislature to quickly pass Senate 162. Again, we are serving predominantly poor people who see little or no way out. Providing resources to state prosecutors to relocate victims and witnesses and offer them ongoing protection would be just a couple of the immediate benefits of this bill. Finally, we're urging the adoption of common sense measures that will reduce opportunities for intimidation and make it easier to prosecute perjury. This includes legislation my office is drafting to prevent the unlawful dissemination of grand jury minutes; separate legislation adopting federal standards for the prosecution of perjury; and my commitment to specially train a team of prosecutors to regularly review and pursue perjury cases. I'm very grateful to all of the people I mentioned, as well as so many other clergy who could not be here but whose input was invaluable. And it's now my pleasure to introduce someone who has earned a national reputation as an innovator and leader in public safety, Boston Police Commissioner Paul Evans. --END--