Letter: Victims must be allowed to speak in court

Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2003 | 8:57 a.m.

As I submit this letter on the day of what would have been the 30th birthday of my son Mark, I am outraged by comments made by Assistant Public Defender Ralph Baker in an Aug. 14 article written by Sun reporter Erica Johnson regarding victim impact statements.

Baker, the assistant public defender, said the victim giving an impact statement makes a "carnival aspect out of the courtroom." If Baker had a heart or had ever been a victim himself, he would not have made such a hideous and degrading remark. Baker refers to defense attorneys and their opposition to victims having the right to speak last in the courtroom. Consider it this way: The offender made the first move by crashing into our life. Why can't we, the victims, have the last say?

A victim impact statement takes many hours, days, even weeks to write. It's starting, stopping, crying, pacing and sleepless nights. It's reliving every moment of that horrible day. It's the one chance a victim has to let the offender know how his/her irresponsibility changed lives forever. It's the one chance the victim has to speak on behalf of their loved one. An impact statement is difficult to write and just as difficult to share in front of a judge and a courtroom full of strangers. It's the victim's choice and right to speak, however. It's the law.

Our son, Mark, was killed in May 1991 -- he was 17 and about to graduate from high school. It took all the courage I could muster that day to give a victim impact statement -- my only chance to let his killer know of the life he took from us. It was my last chance to be Mark's mom and speak up for him. I certainly did not feel like a circus act when I spoke to the court and told them of our loss and pain.

JOAN EDDOWES