Those new to the criminal justice system often wonder what a pre-trial conference is and what purpose it serves. Generally speaking, a pre-trial conference is a court hearing where a prosecutor and a defense attorney get together and discuss whether a case is going to go to trial or whether it can be resolved through a plea agreement.
Pre-trial conferences often take place in the weeks after a defendant is arraigned. A pre-trial conference may be held prior to trial in both civil and criminal cases.
A pretrial conference may be conducted for several reasons: (1) expedite disposition of the case, (2) help the court establish managerial control over the case, (3) discourage wasteful pretrial activities, (4) improve the quality of the trial with thorough preparation, and (5) facilitate a settlement of the case.
Oftentimes, the prosecutor will have provided the defense with all the relevant documents and police reports ahead of a pre-trial conference so that the two can have a meaningful conversation. If not, police reports or other information will generally be provided to the defense attorney at the pre-trial conference, and a second court date will be scheduled where the defense will have to decide whether or not they will accept the prosecutor’s settlement offer or instead want to proceed to trial.
If the two sides do reach an agreement, it’s possible in some cases (especially those involving less serious misdemeanor charges) to resolve the case at the pre-trial conference. In such cases a judge will permit the defendant to enter a plea and will sentence him or her at that time. In more serious cases, where additional time is needed to prepare sentencing arguments, the court will generally schedule a plea and sentencing hearing for a later date.
Victims for Justice supports Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s efforts to get Congress to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, also known as VAWA.
Murkowski (R-AK) and a group of bipartisan senators, including Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), reached a framework in December to reauthorize VAWA, a landmark piece of legislation signed in 1994 that provides critical resources for domestic violence (DV) and sexual assault survivors. The law hasn’t been fully reauthorized since 2013. It was temporarily reauthorized in January 2019 in a short-term spending bill, but the law lapsed a month later.
The framework agreement Murkowski and the bipartisan group reached includes provisions that strengthen rape prevention and education efforts and services and protections for young survivors, closes a so-called dating partner loophole, and includes an Alaska pilot program to empower a limited number of Tribes to exercise special criminal jurisdiction over certain crimes that occur in Alaska Native villages.
The pilot program would allow Tribes who exercise this special jurisdiction to charge defendants with crimes that co-occur with DV, such as violence against children or assault on law enforcement.
The framework expands criminal jurisdiction to tribal courts to cover non-Native perpetrators of sexual violence and other crimes. If passed by the Senate and signed into law, VAWA would help lower Alaska’s shockingly high rates of DV and sexual assault, supporters say.
“The rates of violence experienced by Alaska Natives are particularly horrific and statistics should shock us all. I repeat them a lot and they still shock me. According to a report prepared by the Indian Law and Order Commission, Alaska Native women are overrepresented – by nearly 250 percent – among female domestic violence victims,” Murkowski said during a speech in December.
Alaska faces an ongoing epidemic of violence “which has left long-lasting trauma for too many of our women, children, and families. We will not allow survivors and the needs of the most vulnerable to go unmet,” she said.
The House passed a VAWA reauthorization bill in March. Supporters of VAWA reauthorization are urging their senators to act, noting that since the pandemic began, many victims and survivors of DV and sexual assault have faced increased economic instability and threats to their physical safety and mental health.
Golda Ingram is a new advocate at Victims for Justice. She was hired last fall and moved to Anchorage from Dillingham with her family to start the position, providing serves directly to innocent victims of violent crime. Golda took time for a brief interview so our readers and clients can get to know her. What follows are excerpts:
Q: How long have you lived in Alaska?
A: I am a Yup’ik and Aleut, Danish and Irish descendant. I was born and raised in Dillingham, Alaska. Bristol Bay has always been home.
Q: Have you lived outside the state?
A: I’ve lived in Salem, Oregon; Eielsen Air Force Base; Stanwood, Washington; and Milton, Florida. Of all, my favorite place is Washington.
Q: What is your professional background and why did you choose that career path?
A: I gained experience in the field of family social services through employment as the Tribal Victims Services Response Coordinator at the Bristol Bay Native Association. My history also includes working primarily with women and children who were victims of sexual assault and domestic violence through employment with Bristol Bay’s SAFE and Fear Free Environment. In light of Covid 19, I decided to complete a Paralegal Certificate Completion Program through the Center for Legal Studies in collaboration with California State University, Monterey Bay. I graduated in the spring of 2021.
Q: Why did you decide you wanted to work for VFJ?
A: I appreciate the groundwork that Victims For Justice is able to provide for clients and our ability to assist navigating through the criminal justice system is what makes VFJ stand out.
Q: What do you like most about this work?
A: I enjoy the trust this work and organization require. Although we may each have different experiences, as a Crime Victim Advocate we are trained to assist our clients in identifying and addressing their individual needs whether that’s providing a compassionate ear, answering crime questions, navigating through the criminal justice system and offering an array of community social services tailored specifically by VFJ’s Advocates.
Q: What do you hope to accomplish during your time at VFJ?
A: I hope to accomplish a well-rounded career path geared towards community support to help vulnerable Alaskans identify their immediate needs to help restore justice and overall safety in our community.
Q: How do you fill your free time?
A: I am a working mother of two. My oldest is 17 and my youngest is 2. As the weather warms, I plan to find new favorite parks and hiking trails and beaches to explore in Southcentral Alaska.
After nearly four years without a children’s grief program in Alaska, the state is poised to get one.
Forget Me Not Grief Center of Alaska is opening next month. Starting in January 2022, Forget Me Not Grief Center will begin holding grief support groups for children ages 6 – 17. Adult groups will also take place.
These peer-driven support services are offered free of change and are geared toward children, teens, and families who are grieving the death of loved ones.
If you are interested in learning more, email forgetmenot.griefcenter@gmail.com or check out their website. Volunteers are needed. They complete 15 hours of training and commit to at least one year of service. This is approximately 3 1/2 hours, twice a month.
The vast majority of violent crimes in Alaska in 2020 were aggravated assaults, about 69 percent of the total.
That lines up with national statistics too. According to the FBI’s annual data, aggravated assault is the most common violent crime in the U.S. It’s also the most likely to be reported to law enforcement.
What is an aggravated assault?
It’s defined as an attack or attempted attack with a weapon, regardless of whether an injury occurred, and an attack without a weapon when serious injury results. Serious injury includes broken bones, lost teeth, internal injuries, loss of consciousness, and any unspecified injury requiring two or more days of hospitalization.
To be threatened by a weapon means the perpetrator has threated or attempted to attack a victim with a gun, knife or any other object that could potentially inflict a serious of fatal injury.
Assaults may be classified as aggravated or simple. Factors that can raise a simple assault to an aggravated one include the use of a weapon, the type of victim, the perpetrator’s intent, and the degree of the victim’s injuries.
A total of 4,215 aggravated assaults were reported in Alaska in 2020, according to the Department of Public Safety. Some 8,791 cases of simple assault were also reported. Simple assault includes all assaults that do not involve use of a gun, knife, cutting instrument, or other dangerous weapon and in which the victim does not sustain serious or aggravated injuries.
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