Table Of Content

ONTARIO ATTORNEY GENERAL LAW LIBRARY 000 526 THE EVALUATION OF THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COURTS: THEIR FUNCTIONING AND EFFECTS IN THE FIRST EIGHTEEN MONTHS OF OPERATION, 1998 TO 1999 A report to: Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario By: Sharon Moyer, Jill Rettinger, and Tina Hotton Moyer & Associates 344 Bloor Street West, Suite 302 Toronto, Ontario M5S 1W9 Telephone: (416) 968-6317 Email: [email protected] March 2000 KF Moyer, Sharon 505.5 Moyer & Associates M69 The evaluation of the domestic 2000 violence courts c.l DATE ISSUED TD KF Moyer, Sharon 505.5 Moyer & Associates M69 The evaluation of the domestic 2000 violence courts c. 1 MINISTRY OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL LAW LIBRARY MnRNEV GENERA Off 1 s ms aTawubbabV THE EVALUATION OF THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COURTS: THEIR FUNCTIONING AND EFFECTS IN THE FIRST EIGHTEEN MONTHS OF OPERATION, 1998 TO 1999 A report to: Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario By: Sharon Moyer, Jill Rettinger, and Tina Hotton Moyer & Associates 344 Bloor Street West, Suite 302 Toronto, Ontario M5S 1W9 Telephone: (416) 968-6317 Email: [email protected] March 2000 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Ontario Council of University Libraries https://archive.org/details/mag_00069526 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Two Approaches to the Processing of Domestic Violence Cases I 1. The Early Intervention Model 1 2. The Coordinated Prosecution Model 2 3. Similarities between the Two Models 2 Resources 3 The Logic Model for the Domestic Violence Courts Project 4 This Evaluation 6 The Organization of this Report 6 CHAPTER 2: RECENT RESEARCH FINDINGS ON THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROCESSING OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASES 8 Police Practices 8 Crown Decision-making 11 Specialized Domestic Violence Courts 12 Court-ordered Treatment Programs for Domestic Violence 14 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODS 16 Interviews with Project Personnel and Site Visits 16 File Data Collection from Crown Briefs and Victim/Witness Files 16 1. The Early Intervention Courts in Peel and Durham Regions 16 Entry Criteria 17 Background Characteristics of the Accused and Victim 17 Incident Characteristics 19 Summary 19 2. The Coordinated Prosecution Courts in Ottawa, London, and Hamilton 20 The Sampling of Project Cases 20 The Selection of Pre-program Comparison Groups 21 Interviews with Domestic Violence Victims 23 1. The Interview Guide and Pre-test 23 2. Sample Selection, Comparison Sites, and Sample Size 23 3. Procedures 25 4. Obstacles Encountered: The Generalizability of the Findings 27 5. Summary 28 The Abusive Men's Programs 29 1. Site Visits and Interviews 29 2. Data Collection 30 ii Instrumentation 30 Design and Procedures 31 3. Sample Size 31 4. Obstacles Encountered 33 5. Limitations of the Data 34 CHAPTER 4: THE DEVELOPMENT AND FUNCTIONING OF THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COURTS PROJECT 36 Early Intervention Projects 36 1. The Peel Domestic Violence Project 36 Police Practices 37 The Process 38 Domestic Violence Court Monitoring Committee 39 Project Issues in Peel 40 2. The Domestic Violence Project in Durham Region 41 Police Practices 41 The Process 42 Local Coordinating Committee 43 Project Issues in Durham 43 3. North Bay Domestic Violence Project 44 Police Practices 44 The Process 46 Domestic Violence Court Project Steering Committee 47 Project Issues in North Bay 47 The Coordinated Prosecution Model 49 1. Ottawa Domestic Violence Court 49 Police Practices 49 The Process 51 Partner Assault Support Team (PAST) 52 Project Issues in Ottawa 53 2. London Domestic Violence Court Police Practices The Process 56 Domestic Court Advisory Committee 57 Project Issues in London 58 3. Hamilton Domestic Violence Court 59 Police Practices 59 The Process 60 Domestic Violence Coordinating Committee 61 Project Issues in Hamilton 62 Summary 63 1. Early Intervention Sites 63 2. Coordinated Prosecution Sites 63 Ill CHAPTER 5: COMPARISONS OF CASE PROCESSING AND OUTCOMES, PRE- AND POST-PROJECT 65 The Offences Dealt with by Project Courts 65 Police and Crown Practices: Have Investigations Changed? 68 Pre-trial Detention 76 Victim Contacts with Victim/Witness Staff and Crown Attorneys 84 1. Victim Contacts with VWAP Staff and Crowns in the Early Intervention Sites 84 2. Victim Contacts with VWAP Staff and Crowns in the Coordinated Prosecution Sites 85 Cases with Trial Dates and Trials in the Early Intervention Sites 88 Cases with Trial Dates and Trials in the Coordinated Prosecution Sites 89 Court Resources and Processing Times 98 1. Number of Hearings 98 2. Processing Times 100 Case Outcomes and Sentencing 104 1. Case Outcomes 104 2. Sentencing 106 CHAPTER 6: FACTORS AFFECTING CASE PROCESSING IN THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COURTS 115 Factors Affecting Victim Willingness to Testify 115 Factors Affecting Trial Dates 119 1. Victim Willingness and Other Factors 119 2. The Role Played by the Coordinated Prosecution Factors in Each Site 121 3. Summary 128 Factors Affecting Case Outcomes 129 1. Victim Willingness and Other Factors 129 2. The Role Played by the Cordinated Prosecution Factors in Each Site 130 3. Summary 133 Factors Affecting Processing Times 134 1. Ottawa 136 2. London 138 3. Hamilton 140 4. Summary 142 Factors Affecting the Sentence 143 Summary 144 CHAPTER 7: VICTIM EXPERIENCES AND PERSPECTIVES 146 IV Respondent Relationship with the Accused 146 Respondent Experiences with the Police 148 Detention by Police and Judicial Interim Release 151 Videotapes of Victim Interviews 155 Victim Experiences with the Courts 157 1. Respondent Meetings with VWAP Staff and Crown Attorneys 157 2. Explanations of the Court Process 160 3. Frequency and Timing of Meetings with Crowns and VWAP Staff 161 4. Respondents' Feelings of Fairness and Support from Crowns and VWAP staff 164 5. The Provision of Information to Respondents 169 Respondents Who Testified at Trial 171 Satisfaction with the Outcome of the Case 173 Respondents' Feelings of Safety and Use of Community Resources 175 Treatment Conditions: Partners of Respondents 178 Respondent Recommendations 180 1. Exercise of Discretion 180 2. Information Needs 181 3. Court Processing 181 4. Support from VWAP and the Community for Victims 183 5. Policing 184 6. Key Recommendations 184 Summary 186 CHAPTER 8: ABUSIVE MEN'S PROGRAMS 188 An Overview of the Programs 188 1, Peel Region 188 Family Services of Peel 189 Catholic Family Services of Peel/Dufferin 190 The Salvation Army 191 A Profile of Peel Region Clients 191 2. North Bay 193 3. Durham 194 A Profile of Durham Region Clients 196 3. Ottawa 197 A Profile of Ottawa Clients 200 4. London 201 A Profile of London Clients 203 5. Hamilton 204 A Profile of Hamilton Clients 205 Implementation and Operational Issues 207 The Characteristics of Program Participants and Program Process 208 V 1. Social and Demographic Characteristics 208 2. Program Process 219 Partner-completed Abusive Behaviour Questionnaires 226 1. The Association between Partner and Offender Reports of Abuse 226 2. Do Partners Report Changes in Offenders' Abusive Behaviour? 228 3. Summary 229 Offender Reports of Abusive Behaviour 230 1. Changes in Offender-reported Abusive Behaviour after Program Participation 231 2. Changes in Offender-reported Abusive Behaviour by Site 231 3. Differences by Site in Offender-reported Abusive Behaviour 231 Victim Views of Abusive Men’s Programs 233 Comparison of Program Participants from Early Intervention and Coordinated Prosecution Sites 234 Differences Between Program Completers and Non-completers 237 Offender Perceptions of their Justice System Experience and the Abusive Men's Programs 238 Fees and Funding of the Abusive Men's Programs 244 Summary 245 CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 246 More Effective Prosecution of Domestic Violence Cases 247 1. The Availability of Enhanced Prosecution Tools 247 2. Did the Enhanced Prosecution Tools Produce More Effective Prosecutions? 248 3. Other Activities Related to this Objective 249 Early Intervention in Domestic Violence Cases 251 1. Case Processing Times 251 2. Prompt Treatment of Offenders 252 Improved Support for Victims 253 3. Contacts between Victims and Crowns and Staff of the Victim? Witness Assistance Program 253 2. Services to Victims 253 3. Bail Conditions of Non-association with the Victim 255 4. Breaches of Bail and Probation Violations 255 Increasing Offender Accountability 256 The Achievement of Project Objectives 258 1. Faster Court Processing 258 2. More Guilty Pleas and Guilty Findings 258 3. Victims Who Are More Cooperative with Court Proceedings 260 4. More Domestic Violence Treatment 260 5. Greater Victim Satisfaction and Feelings of Safety 261 Recommendations 263 VI Bibliography 267 Appendix A: Tables on Case Characteristics 270 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 The Logic Model 4 LIST OF TABLES CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODS Table 3.1 The Early Intervention Courts: Differences in Entry Criteria Pre- and Post-program 17 Table 3.2 The Early Intervention Courts: Differences in Background Characteristics Pre- and Post-program 18 Table 3.3 The Early Intervention Courts: Differences in Incident Characteristics Pre- and Post-program 19 Table 3.4 Victim Consents and Interview Outcomes 24 Table 3.5 Data Collection Instruments Received from the Abusive Men's Programs, by Site 32 CHAPTER 5: A COMPARISON OF CASE PROCESSING AND OUTCOMES, PRE- AND POST-PROJECT Table 5.1 The Most Serious Charge in the Case 66 Table 5.2 The Number of Charges 67 Table 5.3 Crown Requests for Audiotapes of 911 Calls 68 Table 5.4 Videotaped Statements 70 Table 5.5 Number of Witness Statements Taken by Police 71 Table 5.6 Number of Witness Statements Taken in Comparison to the Number of Witnesses 72 Table 5.7 Photographs of Victim Injuries: Victims with Visible Injuries 73 Table 5.8 Was the Victim Asked for Consent to the Release of Medical Records?: Victims Who Received Medical Treatment 74 Table 5.9 Crown Requests for Past Domestic Incidents involving the Accused 75 Table 5.10 Police Detention of Accused Persons 76 Table 5.11 Judicial Interim Release Decisions 78 Table 5.12 Conditions of Judicial Interim Release, in Percentages 79 Table 5.13 Percentage of the Released Sample Prohibited from Associating with the Victim 80