U-VISAS DESIGNED TO HELP IMMIGRANT CRIME VICTIMS

Every year, the Kings County District Attorney’s Office handles approximately 7,500 domestic violence cases. In many cases, the victims are immigrants. Fear of deportation keeps many immigrant victims from seeking help. Battered immigrant women may also have difficulty escaping their abusive relationships due to limited English language skills. Coercive control by the batterer may make it difficult to access information about rights and remedies under our laws. Employment may be difficult to obtain without proper documents as well. The DA’s Office is dedicated to helping immigrants and will never hold someone’s immigration status against them when prosecuting a case, nor report them to CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services).

The Kings County District Attorney’s Office and the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence are partners in the Family Justice Center, located on the 15th floor of the DA’s office at 350 Jay Street. The Center is a one-stop shop where domestic violence victims assaulted in Brooklyn can receive an array of social and legal services, whether it’s meeting with a prosecutor, civil attorney, immigration lawyer, a clergy member or to begin long term counseling with an advocate.

Immigration services for domestic violence victims are an integral part of the Family Justice Center. The Center employs a staff that speaks up to 20 foreign languages. Language line services are available at the Center with access to more than 100 languages. There are trained immigration lawyers on staff to help battered women with self-petitions and U-Visas. The U-Visa, which was introduced in October 2000, is aimed at helping immigrant victims gain authorization to stay and work in the United States. It applies to non-citizens that are assisting or willing to assist authorities in the investigation and prosecution of certain crimes. The U-Visa is designed for crime victims who have suffered substantial physical or mental abuse from criminal activity. You do not have to be married to the abuser to be eligible for a U-Visa.

Currently, regulations have not been issued on U-Visas. However, applications for interim relief such as temporary legal status and work authorization have been granted, pending the passage of the federal regulations. U-Visa interim relief is valid for one year. An extension application must be made every year before the expiration date. Once the regulations are passed, then those individuals granted interim relief for a three year period, may be granted permanent status.

WANDA LUCIBELLO:  LEADER IN THE FIGHT AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Wanda Lucibello is the Chief of the Special Victims Division for the Brooklyn DA’s Office. She is well-known throughout the country as an expert on domestic violence issues. Attorneys, law enforcement officers, social service practitioners and reporters all come to Wanda when they need guidance on how to help victims or to interpret the laws that are in place to protect them. She conducts training programs in the investigation and prosecution of domestic violence cases in conjunction with the National College of District Attorneys and the New York Prosecutors Training Institute.

The federal government has even sought out Wanda’s help. At the request of the U.S. Department of State, she traveled to Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa in 1998 and 2000 where she spent several weeks working with prosecutors and women’s groups on new legislative initiatives in family violence. She also worked with the Office on Violence Against Women in Washington, D.C., assisting them in creating a prosecutor’s brochure on Full Faith and Credit in Interstate Orders of Protection.  Wanda also served on the National Advisory Board for the President’s Family Justice Center Initiative.

Wanda coordinates and runs the Domestic Violence Task Force where practitioners get together to discuss various topics relating to domestic violence. Invited guest speakers talk about new programs and developments. Wanda was also instrumental in the implementation of the Family Justice Center, the city’s first one-stop service center for domestic violence victims, located in the DA’s office. The Family Justice Center provides an array of services including counseling and access to social services. Clients of the Family Justice Center can meet with a prosecutor, civil attorney, NYPD and a spiritual caregiver all in one visit.

Wanda has earned several awards for her work and dedication.  She was awarded the Robert N. Kaye Memorial Award by the Kings County Criminal Bar Association in May 2004.  She also received the Governor’s Justice Award to End Domestic Violence in October 2004 and the National College of District Attorneys, Lecturer of Merit Award in October 2005. 

The news article below, courtesy of the National District Attorneys’ Association (ndaa.org), is about a case in another jurisdiction.

A NEW HEADACHE FOR COURTS: BLOGGING JURORS

A New Hampshire case involving a juror who posted entries about court duty on his blog has raised the issue of juror blogging, which legal experts said may soon become a regular part of voir dire and jury instructions.
The case involves Stephen Goupil, who was convicted in 2005 on five counts of sexual assault and one count of theft. New Hampshire v. Goupil, No. 2005-444. (N.H.).
The juror foreman, Scott Vachon, made an entry in his blog in early 2005, four days before jury selection, in which he said he would have to "listen to the local riff-raff try and convince me of their innocence," according to court documents.
Once seated on the jury, but before the start of the trial, Vachon also wrote that he was surprised he was chosen, given his "strong beliefs" about the police and God, according to documents.
Mark Sisti of Sisti Law Offices in Chichester, N.H., who represented the defendant, said he learned about the blog during jury deliberations shortly before the verdict, thanks to a lawyer who was the jury foreman's neighbor.
Sisti alleged that the blog showed that the juror was biased against criminal defendants and that a new trial should take place.
http://www.law.com/jsp/law/LawArticleFriendly.jsp?id=1174035813248