Analysis of Victims' Rights Statutes and OLC Interpretation

2014] CRIME VICTIMS’ RIGHTS 81 For purposes of this Article, it is appropriate to focus on the last two of these three rights: the right to confer and the nght to fair treatment. The first of these three rights—the right to be reasonably protected—is already clearly extended by another statute to crime victims before the filing of charges. While OLC does not acknowledge this fact, the VRRA extends the first right to crime victims, directing that a “responsible official shall arrange for a victim to receive reasonable protection from a suspected offender and persons acting in concert with or at the behest of the suspected offender.”'*! Because a “suspected” offender obviously exists before the filing of criminal charges, the VRRA envisions the right to protection being provided as soon as is practical after a victim suffers from the commission of a crime. Additionally, the sections of the Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance addressing the VRRA direct that Justice Department components must provide reasonable protection even before the filing of criminal charges.'*? So, under the VRRA, the Justice Department should already be providing reasonable protection for a victim before an offender is indicted, regardless of how the CVRA is interpreted!” The VRRA, however, does not contain a right to confer and a right to fair treatment and respect for the victim’s dignity. Therefore, if victims are going to receive these statutory rights before trial, these rights must be found in the CVRA. With regard to the CVRA provision that victims have the “reasonable right to confer with the attorney for the Government in the case,”!*+ OLC contends that “[t]he phrase ‘in the case’ implies the pendency of a judicial proceeding.”'*? To bolster its conclusion, OLC then cites Black’s Law Dictionary, which includes among its several definitions of the word “case” the definition “a civil or criminal proceeding.”'*° But OLC does not acknowledge that Black’s Law Dictionary also defines and exemplifies a “case” more broadly as a “criminal investigation <the notification of rights before charges are filed). For purposes of this Article, it is not necessary to explore this right in detail. If other CVRA rights apply before charges are filed, a fortiori this right does as well. If a victim has a right, presumably the victim should be notified of the existence of that right. 121 42 U.S.C. § 10607(c)(2) (2006) (emphasis added). 122 See ATTORNEY GENERAL GUIDELINES, supra note 52, at 7-8, 26-28. 123 Exactly what “reasonable protection” means, however, remains uncertain. See generally Mary Margaret Giannini, Redeeming an Empty Promise: Procedural Justice, the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, and the Victim’s Right to Be Reasonably Protected from the Accused, 78 TENN. L. REV. 47 (2010) (suggesting the right has not been adequately defined and proposing ways to do so). 14 18 U.S.C. § 3771(aN(5). 125 OLC CVRA Rights Memo, supra note 2, at 8. 126 Td. (citing BLACK’s LAW DICTIONARY, supra note 59, at 243). HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_014060