Domestic Violence Case Study: Prosecutor's Challenges

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Prosecutor’s Challenges Melissa Reese Rasmussen College Author Note This essay is being submitted on May 9, 2014, for Robert Sutter, J200/CCJ2685 Section 3, Domestic Violence course. Prosecutor’s Challenges Everyday you hear about domestic violence on the news whether it be child abuse or inmate partner abuse. The abuser gets arrested but the victim is still cared. They do not want to cooperative with justice system in fear that when the abuser gets out more harm will come to them. This leaves the job of prosecuting very difficult for the prosecution. Many victims do not like to fully cooperate in a stalking or harassment prosecution. This is a situation also seen in domestic violence cases. The reasons why a victim of stalking…show more content…
The prosecutor might attempt to have the victim explain the lack of cooperation with questions designed to elicit the fears or apprehensions the victim is feeling. The prosecutor might attempt to refresh the victim's recollection by showing him or her copy of the written statement to law enforcement or copies of telephone records as a means of increasing the level of detail in the testimony (JEC, 2014). For especially uncooperative victims, the prosecutor may attempt to have him or her declared as an adverse witness in order to subject the victim to impeachment comparing their earlier statements to the contradictory testimony being provided (JEC, 2014). In contrast, the defense will make efforts to highlight weaknesses in the prosecution's case as a result of the victim's lack of cooperation. While the prosecution may attempt to explain or downplay an uncooperative or contradictory victim, the defense will attempt to show the existence of reasonable doubt as a result of the victim's testimony (JEC, 2014). Cross-examination of the victim would focus on the inconsistencies in statements and/or the lack of accurate or detailed recall about the conduct (JEC, 2014). Being a victim of any crimes can be a scary situation. Many will try to ignore the situation in hopes that it will just go away. Domestic violence cases are cases that most victims still stay in the situation and fear for their lives. This fear is what runs their lives until they realize that this is their chance to get out and make a new

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