Stuff to know Flashcards
Intent
In criminal law there are two specific intentions in an offence. Firstly there must be an intention to commit the act and secondly an intention to get a specific result.
Deliberate Act
Intent means that act or omission must be done deliberately. The act or omission must be more than involuntary or accidental
Intent to produce a result
The second type of intent is an intent to produce a specific result. In this context result means “aim, object, or purpose”.
The interview monitor should
- Scruitinise the interview content identifying areas that are missing or which need clarifying or expanding for the purposes of the investigation.
- Be alert to interview errors and confusion in communication between the interviewer and the witness.
- Take accurate and legible notes of the required investigation information.
- Record the times at significant points throughout the interview.
- Provide feedback on content and/or approach to the interview during breaks in the interview.
- Only interrupt the interview if absolute necessary e.g if the equipment fails or a legal requirement is missed.
Section 16 Victim Rights Act 2002
Restriction on disclosing victim’s contact details in evidence or information provided to court
Section 16 Victim Rights Act 2002
What information cannot be disclosed to the Defendant
contact details means any 1 or more of the following:
(a) residential address:
(b) postal address:
(c) email address:
(d) home telephone number:
(e) business telephone number:
(f) mobile telephone number:
(g) Fax number
Unless the judge specifically allows this
Section 7 VRA
Treat the victim with courtesy and compassion; and
respect the victim’s dignity and privacy.
Definition of a Victim
Section 4 VRA
A person against whom offence is committed
- another person who suffers physical injury, loss of or damage to property
- parent or legal guardian of above -
member of immediate family of a person who as a result of offence dies or is incapable
12 Key process points in the ASA investigation.
- Initial Actions on Contact
- Case Referral
- Providing specialist support
- Preliminary interview
- Information Feedback
- Medical Examination
- Formal interview
- Investigation and evidence assessment
- Resolution options
- Prosecution
- Final actions and record keeping
- Preventative opportunities and responsibilities.
Information to Medical Practitioners
- Advise the age and gender of Victim
- Advise when the sexual assault is believed to have occurred
- Give a very brief outline of the information known so far including whether durgs maybe involved, level of intoxication, injuries, or other known health concerns.
ASA Debriefing of Medical Practitioners
- Advise on any immediate needs of the Victim (Safety paramount).
- Verbally summarise the exhibits and advise their significance in the investigation
- Identify any forensic items that may need to be taken to ESR asap for analysis to minimise loss of evidential benefits.
- Identify any significant discourses made by the Victim during examination which maybe useful to Police investigation and in cases Victim under 18, require notification to OT.
What questions can you ask a Victim during a preliminary ASA interview
TEDS to establish what happened,
When did this take place,
Where did it happen,
Who is the offender.
Avoid asking why or how. Take care not to contaminate Victims recall.
Reason for a preliminary ASA interview
Understand what has occurred and to determine:
- What further investigations are necessary
- Whether an offence may have been committed,
- Whether the Victim wishes to make a formal complaint
ASA Initial actions on contact
- Privacy and safety of the Victim must be ensured
- Use TEDS to establish what has happened
- Details of the Victim and brief circumstances, scene, offenders description if known.
- Accurately record in your notebook details provided and tasks undertaken.
- Advise specialist sexual assault support and with Victim’s consent make a referral.
- Refer the incident to CIB ASAP
- Pending CIB transfer ensure Victims safety and immediate health concerns, secure scene and evidence.
- Advise Victim (in acute cases) to preserve evidence if possible until after medical exam.
- Advise supervisor of your actions
- Explain the process to the Victim throughout your response
Advice to give to Victim prior to Medical examination in acute cases
Avoid: Eating or drinking
- Going to the toilet
- Washing or showering
- Washing their hands or biting their fingernails
- changing cloths
- smoking
- brushing or combing hair
- brushing teeth or rinsing their mouth.
What are the tripartite agencies involved in a ASAI and their responsibilities
- Police
- Specialist sexual assault response groups or people
- Specially trained sexual assault medical forensic practitioners
What is Police responsibilities during ASAI in regards to tripartite agencies involved
- Police Investigate reported complaint and prosecute when evidence is available.
- Coordinate support for the Victim’s health and welfare. 3. Provide advice and feedback to Victim throughout investigation
What is ‘Specialist sexual assault response groups or people’ responsibilities during ASAI in regards to tripartite agencies involved
- Ensure the Victim receives support throughout the investigation.
- Offer counselling and therapy
- Provide information to the Victim about the investigation process and their legal rights.
- Provide a link between Police and Victim
- Refer Victim to appropriate support groups if required.
What is ‘Specially trained sexual assault medical forensic practitioners’ responsibilities during ASAI in regards to tripartite agencies involved
- Provide primary medical care as well as forensic and specific care required in SA examination.
- Retrieve forensic medical evidence
- Referring Victims for follow up medical care
- Providing examination reports to Police, prosecutions and give expert evidence.
What are the specified offences in Section 29 Victims Rights Act 2002
- sexual offence or other serious assault
- one that results in serious injury, death, or persons being incapable, or
- led to victim having ongoing fears on reasonable grounds for physical safety/security for them or immediate family
Section 30 Victims Rights Act 2002
Victim’s views about release on bail of accused or offender - Applies to Victim of a specified offences who applies to court for release on bail.
Section 30 Victims Rights Act 2002 - What must the prosecutor do in regards to this section
The prosecutor must make all reasonable efforts to ascertain any views the victim has about the the offender being released on bail; and Inform the court
What are the Oranaga Tamariki time frames
Critical - 24 hours
Very Urgent - 48 hours
Urgent - 7 Days
OT - Critical - 24 hours
No safety or care identified, Mokopuna is at risk of serious harm and requires immediate involvement to establish safety
OT - Very Urgent - 48 hours
At risk of serious harm but some protective factors present for the next 48 hours. Situation likely to change, high priority follow up
OT - Urgent - 7 Days
At risk of harm or neglect and the circumstances are likely to negatively impact on Mokopuna. Options of safety and support have been explored by remain unmet.
What is ADVOKATES used for
Use the mnemonic ‘ADVOKATES’ to ensure an eye witness covers all relevant information when describing a suspect.
ADVOKATES
A Amount of time under observation -How long did the witness have the suspect in view?
D Distance - What was the distance between the witness and suspect?
V Visibility- What was visibility like at the time? (including time of day, street lighting, etc)
O Obstruction - Were there any obstructions to the view of the witness?
K Known or seen before- Had the witness ever seen the suspect before? If so, where and when?
A Any reason to remember - Did the witness have any special reason for remembering the suspect? (e.g., a distinguishing feature or peculiarity, or the nature of the incident itself)
T Time lapse - How long has elapsed since the witness saw the suspect?
E Error or material discrepancy - Are there any errors or discrepancies between descriptions given in the first and subsequent accounts of the witness?
S Salience It is important to examine how salient a person is within an event scene. Were there 5 armed robbers at the scene or only 1? A person can only process so much information at one time due to limited processing capacity.
What can you advise a support person is appropriate behaviour during a witness interview
On the support person’s arrival, speak to them alone and explain that their role is to:
- Provide support to the witness and ensure their well-being
- Ensure the witness understands what’s happening
- Not to ask the witness questions about what’s happened before the interview, as this will contaminate or influence memory
- Not to discuss anything that’s been said in the interview in breaks as this may contaminate or influence memory
- Not to prompt the witness or answer questions on their behalf
What is the definition of a Disclosure witness / Recent complaint?
A disclosure witness is the first person to whom a child disclosed.
Disclosure witness - When questioning a child if they made a clear disclosure to an adult and that adult can give information
Do not ask the child again what has happened to them
Disclosure witness - When questioning a child if it is unclear what the child said ad there is no urgency safety issues
Do not ask the child again what has happened to them
Disclosure witness - When questioning a child if it becomes clear an offence has occurred
Do not continue questioning
Initial Steps Police and Oranga Tamariki must follow in referral of a CYP
Referral - Information sharing between the 2 agencies
Consultation - discussion at appropriate levels
Agreement - agreeing upon an initial action in an IJIP (initial Joint Investigation Plan).
Topics the mist be considered when completing IJIP
- The immediate safety of the child involved and other children whom maybe identified as being at risk.
- If a Joint visit is required due to risk of further offending, loss of evidence, offender hostile, concerns for staff safety.
- The management of the initial interview of child.
- Referral to a medical practitioner and authority to do so.
- Any further actions agreed for Police and OT including considerations as to whether a multi-agency approach is required.
