Bruises fade and wounds heal — often leaving prosecutors to rely on photographs and medical records that don’t arrive in time for trial, but a new grant could help Howard prosecutors bring domestic violence offenders to justice without asking victims to testify.
“Our goal is to prove as many of these cases without having to use the victim, because sometimes they’re not in a good emotional state, and we don’t want to re-victimize them by making them come to trial, ” said prosecutor Devora Pontell, who applied for the $45,000 grant to organize a domestic violence unit at the Howard State’s Attorney’s Office.
“We want as much evidence to be successful prosecuting offenders without creating more problems, stress or upset for the victim.”
Since 1999, the county’s domestic violence caseload has increased 40 percent, leaving Pontell with about 15 to 20 domestic violence cases each week.
“On Wednesdays, half the court docket is domestic violence cases — and the dockets are rather large,” Pontell said.
“For legal assistants to keep track of every case is impossible in district court.”
But the grant, which comes from the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention, will fund a domestic violence legal assistant solely dedicated to preparing domestic violence cases and can assist the current staff of a full-time prosecutor, victim advocate and administrative assistant.
The assistant will file necessary paperwork and free up Pontell to work directly with victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and elder abuse, said Howard State’s Attorney Dario Broccolino, who has made cracking down on domestic violence a top priority.
“We take all these cases, now it’s just going to be improvement in the quality of the prosecution and the providing of services will increase,” he said.
“We want to try and give victims a sense or assurance that we take these cases seriously and will follow through with them.”
Broccolino said he attributes the county’s rise in domestic violence cases to an increase in the number of incidents reported to police.
“I think victims feel more empowered and know they’re going to have a much better response than they would have had 30 years ago,” he said.
The Howard police department recently created its own domestic violence unit to train patrol officers who respond to incidents and interact with victims.
Chief William McMahon also is planning to attend a three-day seminar in Atlanta where law enforcement executives will discuss new approaches to violence against women.
