Question & Answer: Impact of Victim’s Statement
The current case that is worthy of discussion and analysis concerns the case, now referred to as, the "Stanford Swimmer" case. After midnight on January 18, 2015, Stanford student Brock Turner was caught in the act of assaulting an unconscious 23-year-old woman behind a dumpster while on campus. The corroboration of witnesses resulted in Turner's arrest and subsequent trial. He was charged with multiple felonies that could culminate into a 14 year prison sentence. At the trial, the victim had the opportunity to share her victim-impact statement. In total her statement was more than 7,000 words long and detailed her experiences, the consequences and the overall impact Turner's attack has had and will continue to have for the rest of her life. Despite the victims statement the judge found the potential sentence of 14 years may be too harsh; after all Turner was an athlete at an academic institution and he has no criminal record. For this reason the judge sentenced Turner to 6 months in prison and probation for the remaining felonies. The district attorney, the victim’s family and many within the general public find this sentence ridiculous; arguing that rape is acceptable as long as the girl is unconscious and the rapist is a good student (The Guardian, 2016).
What individual rights might be supported or harmed by victim impact statements?
Depending on who is listening it is very possible for victim-impact statements to have an influence over how people perceive the crime, the victim and the perpetrator. Victim-impact statements could elicit an emotional response in juries, which generally do not favor the defendant; if anything they could be the lynch-pin in winning the case and gaining a guilty verdict with realistic consequences (Roberts & Erez, 2010). In the case of Brock Turner’s victim her statement did not seem to have much of an impact at all, regardless of its length and details her hardships due to Turner’s attack; after the jurors found Turner guilty it was believed that his ultimate sentence would fit that crime; however, the judge was lenient on Turner (The Guardian, 2016). The victims-impact statement should have, in this case, held greater sway in how Turner was sentenced.
What is a victim-impact statement? Do you think victim-impact statements should be admissible at the sentencing stage of criminal trials? If so, what information should they contain, and what should be omitted? How can the information in victim-impact statements be verified?
In the simplest of terms, the victim-impact statement is no more or less than a detailed account of how everything that has happened due the crime committed against them and how it has impacted their day-to-day lives (Cassell & Erez, 2014). It is important for victim-impact statements to be included when a guilty offender is sentenced. Criminal cases can be very clinical, evidence driven and filled with “legalese” speeches, all of which can be very dry and unemotional. However, including the victim-impact statement brings the human elements back into the crime; someone was harmed and the side effects of that may follow them their whole lives. These statements should include any memories of the actual crime, the experiences involved in filing criminal charges, the effect of scrutiny in modern media and whatever injuries or treatments, including therapy, that the victim may have to endure to gain their normalcy back. Verifying proof of that impact on the victim is possible; medical records, counseling attended and the treatments received; this at least would be foundational base to concur with the victim’s experiences are genuine.
REFERENCES
Cassell, P.G. and Erez, E. (2014). Victim impact statements and ancillary harm: The american
perspective. Canadian Criminal Law Review. 15. 149-197
Roberts, J.V. and Erez, E. (2010). Communication at Sentencing: The expressive function of
victim impact statements. NCJRS. 232-254.
The Guardian. (2016). Stanford sexual assault case: victim impact statement in full. The
Guardian. 1. Retrieved August 20, 2016, from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/06/stanford-sexual-assault-case-victim-impact-statement-in-full
