Attorney general upholds victims’ rights in courts

Erica D. Johnson

Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2003 | 11:17 a.m.

The Nevada attorney general's office has affirmed the rights of victims to speak in Clark County courtrooms.

Some district judges had acknowledged to the Sun that they occasionally limit the number of victims allowed to speak at sentencing hearings.

The opinion issued late last week points out that Nevada Revised Statute 176.015 mandates that "all individuals who qualify as victims under the statute should be afforded a reasonable opportunity to be heard at a sentencing hearing."

The opinion states that severe time constraints caused by heavy court caseloads are not valid reasons to deny victims the opportunity to address the court. Clark County judges had cited heavy caseloads as the reason why they had limited the number of victim statements.

"We are aware that the courts of the 8th Judicial District are operating under extremely heavy caseloads and are thus under severe time constraints," the opinion states.

"Victim's rights, however, must remain the highest priority in sentencing proceedings."

Sandy Heverly, executive director of Stop DUI, who led the opposition to the judges' actions, expressed relief that the law protecting victims' rights was affirmed.

"I'm elated," she said. "This is a very good response. We knew all along what the law said. It was clearly written."

Chief Judge Gene Porter said Clark County judges do their best to try to accommodate "all persons affected by the commission of a crime."

"We try to do that within the framework of the recourses we have at our disposal to conduct the people's judicial business," he said.

Porter said judges respect the intent of the Legislature to protect victims' rights.

"I've encouraged all my colleagues to accommodate any victims if at all possible," he said. "There's nobody in this court that doesn't feel the pain victims feel or are trying to downplay that."

According to state statute, victims include a person who was injured or killed as the result of the commission of a crime or a relative of such person.

The statute does not limit the number of victims allowed to address the court at sentencing hearings.

The attorney general's opinion came after District Judge Kathy Hardcastle last month allowed only one victim and one relative to speak at a sentencing hearing for a man charged with driving drunk and injuring a husband and wife.

The couple's 25-year-old daughter, who helped take care of the couple during their recovery, had complained that she was denied the opportunity to address the court.

Heverly said she would include the opinion in a complaint she plans to file against Hardcastle with the Judicial Discipline Commission.

"We hope the commission in turn will encourage Judge Hardcastle and other judges to follow the law and to prevent further re-victimization of victims," she said.

Hardcastle has denied any wrongdoing, saying she generally allows one speaker -- a direct victim or family representative -- to address the court for each victim in the case.

She sentenced the defendant in the case to a stiffer prison sentence than originally recommended by the Department of Parole and Probation.

Hardcastle this morning was on the bench and could not be reached for reaction to the attorney general's opinion.

Other judges said the court's busy caseload often makes it difficult to allow all victim witnesses to address the court and that some victims are limited as a result.

Sentencing hearings are held in the middle of courts' regular calendars and can often take up to an hour each, they said.