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For the overwhelming majority of Americana, the only contact with the criminal justice system comes as victims and witnesses. innocent bystanders to crime. All too often. those innocent bystanders are forgotten. But defendants are guaranteed attention. If they can’t afford a lawyer, counsel is appointed for them, paid for with tax dollars.
We’d like to see some of those tax dollars go towards protection of the innocent as well. We join the county s judges and commonwealth’s attorney in supporting the organization of a Victim Witness Program to serve Rappahannock and Fauquier counties.
“It would be invaluable here," says Commonwealth’s attorney Douglas Baumgardner. "I try to run one from my office. I provide victims with an informational brochure on the state’s victim compensation program. In homicide cases. I've asked the sheriff’s department to call me so I can come to the scene of the crime. But it’s difficult for me to do the job thoroughly and efficiently. It's difficult for a prosecutor to find the time to explain the nuances of the criminal justice system to victims and witnesses."
Baumgardner believes that a Victim Witness Program will save valuable hours for both law enforcement officers and prosecutors. But more importantly, it will provide the one element that's missing from Rappahannock's criminal justice system today —- “someone to. answer , why", the commonwealth’s attorney maintains.
"There's a lot of deep seated misunderstanding and disenchantment. A Victim Witness Program would go a long way toward establishing a dialogue, the direct link that is missing. If nobody’s there to explain why, it can create a lot of disallusionment. ’’ Baumgardner believes,
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