Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault - Mass.gov

MDAA
Massachusetts District Attorneys Association
THE MASSACHUSETTS
PROSECUTORS' MANUAL:
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
& SEXUAL ASSAULT THIRD EDITION (Original Edition 1997)
(Includes Updates Through July, 2010) Written by
Lisa S. McGovern
Third Edition: Updated and Revised by
Kim Aliprantis
Staff Attorney, Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault The Massachusetts District Attorneys Association
One Bulfinch Place, Suite 202
Boston, Massachusetts 02114
THE MASSACHUSETTS
PROSECUTORS' MANUAL:
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
& SEXUAL ASSAULT THIRD EDITION (Original Edition 1997)
(Includes Updates Through July, 2010) Written by
Lisa S. McGovern
Third Edition: Updated and Revised by
Kim Aliprantis
Staff Attorney, Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Purpose & Scope In 1996 several Massachusetts agencies received funding under the federal
Violence Against Women Act after having outlined in their grant proposals
plans to develop a training manual for the prosecution of domestic violence
and sexual assault cases. The Massachusetts District Attorneys Association
proposed that a collaborative effort, including all Massachusetts District
Attorneys offices and the Attorney General's Office, combine resources and
produce a single manual for statewide application. The original manual was
funded by the Offices of former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, former
Norfolk District Attorney Jeffrey Locke, and former Norfolk District
Attorney William Delahunt. The manual was written by Lisa McGovern,
formerly an Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex County, and was
reviewed by an editorial board comprised of representatives from the
offices of Massachusetts' eleven District Attorneys and the Attorney
General. The manual was distributed in November 1997 to all Massachusetts
prosecutors handling domestic violence and sexual assault cases. In 2000 the Violence Against Women Grant Office awarded the Massachusetts
District Attorneys Association a grant to update the manual in 2001. The
manual was significantly expanded and revised, and supplanted the original
edition. In 2005 and 2006 the VAWA STOP Grant program again awarded the
Massachusetts District Attorneys Association with grant funding to update
the manual. The manual has again been significantly revised and replaces
the second edition. The manual covers domestic violence and sexual assault cases simultaneously
because they involve similar victim dynamics, and present prosecutors with
similar complex challenges. The crimes of domestic violence and sexual
assault are also all too often inextricably intertwined. Cases involving child abuse, including child victims of sexual assault are
not within the scope of this work. A Note On Language Throughout the manual, victims are often, though not exclusively, referred
to in the feminine gender. This reflects the fact that in the overwhelming
majority of domestic violence cases and sexual assault cases, the victim is
female and the offender male. However, where applicable, the contents are
intended to pertain equally to male victims, and/or to victims who are the
same gender as their assailants or abusers. In the past decade rape crisis center advocates have deliberately adapted
use of the term "survivor" in place of "victim," particularly with respect
to the crime of rape. Due to the statutes, cases and legal authorities that
use and define the term "victim," the manual introduces "survivor" but also
retains "victim."
Acknowledgements Without the support of the Executive Office of Public Safety, and the VAWA
STOP Grant program, this 3rd edition of the Massachusetts Prosecutors'
Manual: Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault would not have been produced.
The Massachusetts District Attorneys Association especially thanks Diane
DeAngelis, Grant Administrator for the VAWA STOP Grant Program, for her
steadfast support.
All of the District Attorney's offices and many in the criminal justice
community contributed to this new edition, and we especially thank: . Janet Berkenfield, Director, MA EMSC Project, MA Department of Public
Health
. Maryann Brennan, Disabled Persons Protection Commission (DPPC)
. Courtney Cahill, Assistant District Attorney, Plymouth County District
Attorney's Office
. Jeanmarie Carroll, Assistant District Attorney, Norfolk County District
Attorney's Office
. Diane Coffey, SAFEPLAN Program Manager, Massachusetts Office for Victim
Assistance
. Layla D'Emilia-Shepherd, Senior Policy Analyst, Jane Doe Inc.
. Janet Fine, Executive Director, Massachusetts Office for Victim
Assistance
. Deborah Fogarty, Director, Victim Compensation Division of the Office of
the Attorney General
. Gregory Giuliano, Director of Elder Protective Services, Massachusetts
Executive Office of Elder Affairs
. Susan Goldfarb, Executive Director, Children's Advocacy Center of Suffolk
County
. Marguerite Grant, Senior Appellate Counsel, Middlesex District Attorney's
Office
. Betsy Groves, LICSW, Director, Child Witness to Violence Project
. Rev. Dr. Anne Marie Hunter, Safe Havens Interfaith Partnership Against
Domestic Violence
. Elizabeth Katz, District Court Chief, Northwestern District Attorney's
Office
. Dee Kennedy, Site Operations Director, Family Justice Center of Boston
. Brooke Kinniburgh, Division of Violence and Injury Prevention,
Massachusetts Department of Public Health
. J. Thomas Kirkman, Director of the Domestic Violence Prosecution Unit,
Cape & Islands District Attorney's Office
. Mary Kociela, Director, Domestic Violence Projects, Northwestern District
Attorney's Office
. Suzanne Kontz, Assistant District Attorney, Middlesex County District
Attorney's Office
. Dana Leccese, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General
. Daniel Less, General Counsel, Sex Offense Registry Board
. Susan Loehn, Chief, Domestic Violence Unit, Northwestern District
Attorney's Office
. Kate MacDougall, Director, Family Crimes and Sexual Assault Unit, Essex
County District Attorney's Office
. Jennifer Meade, Research and Evaluation Manager, Jane Doe, Inc.
. Erin Miller, SAFEPLAN Program Coordinator, Massachusetts Office for
Victim Assistance
. Sgt. Thomas Neff, Massachusetts State Police, Essex County District
Attorney's Office
. Kristen Palma, Director of Public Affairs and Field Services,
Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance
. Gwen Pino, Forensic Case Manager, Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab
. Gina Rippel, Chief of the Domestic Violence Unit, San Diego District
Attorney's Office
. Curt Rogers, Gay Men's Domestic Violence Project
. Hema Sarangapani, Staff Attorney, Immigration Unit, Greater Boston Legal
Services
. Afton Templin, Deputy General Counsel, Massachusetts Parole Board
. Cheryl Watson, Chief, Victim Witness Services, Essex County District
Attorney's Office
. Lucia Zuniga, Director, Adult and Pediatric SANE (These titles reflect positions held at the time of the publication of the
3rd edition.) A number of people were generous in sharing their expert advice with the
author for the second edition, including: . Esther Bixler, Assistant District Attorney, Middlesex District Attorney's
Office
. Marci Diamond, Director, Sexual Assault Prevention and Survivor Services,
Massachusetts Department of Public Health
. John Grossman, Chief, and Julie Ross, Assistant Attorney General, of the
High Tech and Computer Crimes Division of the Office of the Attorney
General
. J. Thomas Kirkman, Director of the Domestic Violence Prosecution Unit,
Cape & Islands District Attorney's Office
. Mary Lee, Deputy Chief of Appeals and Legal Adviser to the High Tech
Unit, Plymouth County District Attorney's Office
. Sgt. John J. McLean, of the Medford Police Dept. and NEMLEC
. Thomas O'Reilly, Assistant District Attorney, Middlesex District
Attorney's Office
. Judy Norton Senfleben, Deputy Director, and Karen Dempsey, Community
Education Coordinator, Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance
. Susan H. Vickers, Esq., Victims Rights Law Center, Boston Area Rape
Crisis Center
. Jay Wallace, Chief Executive Officer, The Developers Collaborative, Inc. (These titles reflect positions held at the time of the publication of the
2nd edition.)
Editorial Board for the Original 1997 Edition (These titles reflect positions held at the time of the original
publication.) Office of the United States Attorney
District of Massachusetts:
Marianne Hinkle
Assistant United States Attorney
(formerly Chief, Domestic Violence Unit, Norfolk District Attorney's
Office) Office of the Attorney General
Commonwealth of Massachusetts:
Joseph F. Whalen
Assistant Attorney General Amy Sharff
Assistant Attorney General Kathy Morrissey
Victim-Witness Advocate Janine Gannon