Groups try to give victims safe harbor

LAKE COUNTY – When a person become the victim of crime, he or she is scarred forever. But there is help.  Safe Harbor in Ronan offers sexually or violently abused women a chance to heal. Along with its 24-hour hotline (406-676-0800), Safe Harbor has an emergency shelter, counseling, support groups and educational opportunities for women and their children, said Safe Harbor’s Jolene Schmitz, legal assistant and court liaison crime victim advocate.

And one of Schmitz’ jobs is to ensure that attorneys, the judge and other professionals in the criminal prosecution of their case know what the victim wants.

“We can make sure the victim has a voice,” she said.

Victims can also make sentencing suggestions to the judge.

Schmitz can help victims with paperwork, attend court with the victim to give them support, explain the process and introduce them to the people making arguments and decisions for and against them. Schmitz can also help the victim understand what is happening in their case, what a plea bargain is, and what they can do to ensure their perpetrator is held accountable.

For example, before each convicted person is sentenced the must undergo a “pre-sentence investigation.”

During that period, Schmitz can work with the victim to create an “impact statement,” which is a sort of dialogue about how they felt the legal process worked.

“They can write to the judge and tell him what they thought about the prosecution process, their experiences, how the (crime) impacted their life, and anything else they feel the judge needs to know,” Schmitz said.

Victims can also tell the judge what recommendations they had for sentencing and what things they would like to see happen before the convict moves to his next phase of detention, she said.

One shortcoming in the pre-sentencing process is that victims don’t always take advantage of their opportunity to be heard.

“There are not always a lot of individuals that know there is an opportunity to have voice,” she said.

Overall however, the victim assistance process is effective, Schmitz said.

But victims need more help.

“The process itself is not victim friendly,” she said. “The paperwork alone can take one-and-a-half to 2 hours. It can be really complicated and situation specific.”