Rule 20. Rights of Victims

Victim. “Victim” means a person who has suffered direct physical, emotional, or pecuniary harm as a result of the commission of an offense, identified by username. Where the person is deceased, incapacitated, or a minor, the term includes a spouse, parent, guardian, or other lawful representative of that person. The term includes a business or other organization that has suffered direct pecuniary harm, acting through an authorized agent.

Authorized Investigative Agency. “Authorized investigative agency” means an agency of the State, of a county, or of a municipality that is authorized to receive and investigate criminal reports.

Justice Department. “Justice Department” means the Attorney General and the state attorneys and other personnel responsible to the Attorney General.

Anonymous Victim. “Anonymous victim” means a victim who has chosen to remain anonymous upon making a criminal report, as 6 R. Stat. § 131.701 provides.

Initial Contact. A victim who reports criminal activity to the Justice Department, or to the crime report hotline of any authorized investigative agency, shall receive contact within seventy-two (72) hours from the submission of the report, as provided by 6 R. Stat. § 131.701, unless the victim has chosen to remain anonymous.

Notice of Investigation. Where an authorized investigative agency receives a criminal report, it shall promptly notify the victim that an investigation is being conducted, or that no further inquiry will be conducted, as provided by 6 R. Stat. § 131.704.

Notice of Continued Investigation. The assigned investigative agency shall contact the victim throughout the investigation to give notice that the investigation continues in effect. Such notice shall be given at intervals of not more than seven (7) days from the most recent contact with the victim regarding the investigation, as provided by 6 R. Stat. § 131.706.

Prompt Adjudication. An authorized investigative agency shall adjudicate a criminal report within fourteen (14) days of the report’s filing, as provided by 6 R. Stat. § 131.702. A failure to adjudicate within that time shall not constitute a basis for the dismissal of a criminal proceeding.

Referral to the Justice Department. Upon adjudication of a law enforcement investigative inquiry, the investigative agency shall refer the report and its findings to the Justice Department, and shall issue a recommendation of offenses or shall indicate that no recommendation is made, as provided by 6 R. Stat. § 131.703.

Notice of Adjudication. Upon completion of an investigative inquiry, the authorized investigative agency shall transmit notice to the victim describing the findings of the investigator and the referral to the Justice Department. Where a report is adjudicated with no recommendation of offenses, the agency shall inform the victim of the reasons for the absence of a recommendation, as provided by 6 R. Stat. § 131.705.

Extension of Time. Where an investigative agency finds that it requires additional time to conduct an investigative inquiry regarding a victim’s complaint, the Attorney General may grant an extension of time. An extension shall not be issued more than forty-eight (48) hours before the deadline, and shall be accompanied by a notice of extension to the victim, where possible, stating the reasons requiring the extension, as provided by 6 R. Stat. § 131.707.

Manner of Notice. The notices required by this subdivision are given by the investigative agency or by the Justice Department, and are not given by the court, by the clerk, or by the electronic filing system. The electronic filing system gives notice only to participants in a case, and only upon the clerk’s acceptance of a filing; it gives no notice to a person who is not a participant. Notice under this subdivision may be given to the account, username, or other point of contact the victim supplied with the report, and the giving of it shall be recorded by the agency.

Complaint. Where a victim’s rights under 6 R. Stat. Title VI have been violated, the victim may file a complaint with the Justice Department against the authorized investigative agency, as provided by 6 R. Stat. § 131.708. The complaint shall identify the agency, the right alleged to have been violated, and the facts relied upon.

Enforcement. The Attorney General may conduct a personnel investigation, de-certify an authorized investigative agency, or modify an authorized investigative agency’s workload, where it is found that the agency has violated a victim’s rights, as provided by 6 R. Stat. § 131.709.

No Remedy in the Criminal Case. Except as a statute or these rules expressly provide, a violation of subdivision (b) does not create a right to the dismissal of a charge, to the suppression or exclusion of evidence, to a continuance, to a new trial, or to the vacating of a plea or a sentence, and is not a defense. The remedies for such a violation are those provided by subdivisions (c)(1) and (c)(2).

Notice of Proceedings. The prosecuting attorney shall give the victim notice of the arraignment, of any preliminary hearing held under Rule 7.2, of the pretrial conference and pretrial hearing, of the date and time set for trial, of any plea tendered under Rule 12, of the sentencing hearing, of the disposition of the case, of the entry of a nolle prosequi under Rule 16, of a dismissal under Rule 19(f), and of the taking of an appeal. Notice shall be given to the account or point of contact the victim supplied, or through Discord messaging to the victim’s account, and shall state the date and time of the proceeding in Coordinated Universal Time and the channel or location at which it will be held. The duty imposed by this subdivision rests upon the prosecuting attorney, and is not discharged by the electronic filing system, which serves only participants in the case.

Right to Be Present. A victim shall not be excluded from a proceeding that is open to the public. Notwithstanding Rule 21 and Rid. R. Evid. 615, the court shall not order a victim excluded merely because the victim may testify, unless the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the victim’s testimony would be materially altered by hearing the testimony of other witnesses. Where exclusion is ordered, the court shall admit the victim upon the conclusion of the victim’s own testimony.

Right to Confer. The victim shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to confer with the prosecuting attorney before the tender of a plea agreement under Rule 12, before the entry of a nolle prosequi under Rule 16, and before the sentencing hearing. The view of the victim does not control the exercise of the prosecuting attorney’s discretion.

Right to Be Heard at Sentencing. At the sentencing hearing held under Rule 28 the court shall afford the victim a reasonable opportunity to be heard.

Restitution.

Protection of Identifying Information. No document filed in a criminal case shall contain the residential address, telephone number, electronic mail address, place of employment, or other sensitive identifying data of a victim, beyond the username necessary to identify the victim. The electronic filing system provides no redaction, no document-level sealing, and no means of amending or withdrawing a document once received; the duty therefore rests upon the filer. The clerk may reject a filing that contains such material. The only cure is a corrected refiling, which bears its own later filing date, and the original filing remains in the record. Upon a showing of a risk of harm, intimidation, or interference, the court may enter a protective order under Rule 14(a)(6) forbidding named persons and counsel of record to disclose identifying information concerning the victim; such an order binds persons and is enforced by contempt under Rule 43 and by sanctions under Rule 48.

Freedom From Intimidation. The court may impose upon a defendant, as a condition of release or of probation, a condition that the defendant not contact the victim directly or through another, in-game, through Discord messaging, or by any other means, and may enforce the condition by contempt and by revocation.

The Victim Is Not a Party. A victim is not a party to the criminal proceeding. A victim has no right to be represented as a party, to conduct or resist discovery under Rule 14, to compel or to prevent a charging decision, to control the prosecution, to move for a continuance, or to appeal. A victim addresses the court through the prosecuting attorney, except where these rules expressly provide otherwise or where the court permits the victim to address it directly.

Anonymous Victims. A victim who has chosen to remain anonymous under 6 R. Stat. § 131.701 is not entitled to the notices required by subdivisions (b) and (d)(1) unless the victim identifies himself or herself to the investigative agency or to the prosecuting attorney. Anonymity does not excuse the State from its obligations under Rule 14, does not permit the withholding of exculpatory material under Rule 14(a)(1)(A)(iii), and does not defeat the defendant’s right under Const. art. I, § 6 to be confronted with the witnesses. Where the State intends to call the victim as a witness, the victim’s username shall be disclosed as Rule 14(a)(1)(A)(iv) requires.

Enforcement in the Criminal Case. A victim, or the prosecuting attorney on the victim’s behalf, may bring a failure to accord a right under this subdivision to the attention of the court. The court may direct compliance, may grant a brief continuance to permit compliance, and may enter such other order as will secure the right. Except as subdivision (d)(4)(E) provides, a failure to accord a right under this subdivision is not a ground for a new trial, for setting aside a plea, or for vacating a sentence or judgment.