Recommended Guidelines and Practices for Improving the ...

1 Recommended Guidelines and Practices for Improving the administration of Justice in Domestic Violence Cases FINAL REPORT OF THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE TASK FORCE JANUARY 2008 Judicial Council of California Domestic Violence Practice and Procedure Task Force Administrative Office of the Courts 455 Golden Gate Avenue San Francisco, CA 94102-3688 Copyright 2008 by the Judicial Council of California/Administrative Office of the Courts. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, online, or mechanical, including the use of information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the copyright owner. Permission is hereby granted to nonprofit institutions to reproduce and distribute this publication for educational purposes if the copies credit the copyright holder.

2 2 Judicial Council of California Administrative Office of the Courts Hon. Ronald M. George Chief Justice of California and Chair of the Judicial Council Mr. William C. Vickrey Administrative Director of the Courts Mr. Ronald G. Overholt Chief Deputy Director Ms. Diane Nunn Director, Center for Families, Children & the Courts Domestic Violence Practice and Procedure Task Force Hon. Laurence Donald Kay (Ret.), Chair Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal First Appellate District, Division Four Hon. Deborah B. Andrews Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles Hon. Sharon A. Chatman Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara Hon. Jerilyn L. Borack Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento Hon. Katherine A. Feinstein Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco Hon.

3 Jeffrey S. Bostwick Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego Hon. Susan P. Finlay (Ret.) Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego Hon. Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District Hon. Mary Ann Grilli Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara 3 Ms. Tressa S. Kentner Executive Officer Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino Mr. James B. Perry Executive Officer Superior Court of California, County of Yolo Hon. Quentin L. Kopp (Ret.) Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo Hon. Rebecca S. Riley Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of Ventura Hon. Jean Pfeiffer Leonard Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of Riverside Mr. Alan Slater Chief Executive Officer Superior Court of California, County of Orange Hon.

4 William A. MacLaughlin Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles Hon. Dean Stout Presiding Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of Inyo Hon. George A. Miram Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo JUDICIAL COUNCIL LIAISONS Hon. Ronald E. Albers Commissioner of the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco Hon. Thomas M. Maddock Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa 4 Domestic Violence Practice and Procedure Task Force Staff Ms. Bobbie Welling, Lead Staff Supervising Attorney Center for Families, Children & the Courts Administrative Office of the Courts Ms. Carly Lindberg Administrative Coordinator Center for Families, Children & the Courts Administrative Office of the Courts Ms. Tamara Abrams Senior Attorney Center for Families, Children & the Courts Administrative Office of the Courts Ms.

5 Julia Weber Supervising Attorney Center for Families, Children & the Courts Administrative Office of the Courts Ms. Penny Davis Senior Court Services Analyst Center for Families, Children & the Courts Administrative Office of the Courts Mr. Joshua Weinstein Former Senior Attorney Office of the General Counsel Administrative Office of the Courts 5 CONTENTS Introduction to Recommended Guidelines and Practices .. 8 Court 10 Domestic Violence Prevention Act Restraining 13 Assistance for Parties (General)..13 Obtaining and Perfecting Hearings and Court and Case Firearms Relinquishment .. 21 Communication and Legislation and/or Rules of Emergency protective orders ..23 Criminal court protective Civil court restraining orders ..24 Access to and Entry of Orders Into the Domestic Violence Restraining Order System (DVROS)/California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS).

6 27 Immediate Proposals ..28 Interim Long-Term Domestic Violence Criminal Procedure .. 31 administration Bail release considerations ..32 Hearing procedures ..32 Arraignment ..33 Setting bail ..34 Release on own recognizance ..35 Issuing CPOs Trial Continuances ..36 Evidentiary Jury selection in domestic violence cases ..37 Victims ..38 Compelling participation or 6 Sentencing ..39 Protective Orders Sources Consulted .. 44 45 The Presiding Judges White Paper on Domestic Violence: The Role of the Presiding Judge in the administration of Domestic Violence Cases 7 Introduction to Recommended Guidelines and Practices On September 6, 2005, Chief Justice Ronald M. George appointed the Judicial Council Domestic Violence Practice and Procedure Task Force to recommend improvements to court practice and procedure in cases involving domestic violence allegations.

7 As Chief Justice George stated when he initially appointed the task force members, Our goals are to ensure fair, expeditious, and accessible justice for litigants in these critical cases and to promote both victim safety and perpetrator accountability. The task force charge also included the review and implementation, as appropriate, of court-related recommendations contained in the June 2005 report to the California Attorney General from the Task Force on Local Criminal Justice Response to Domestic Violence, entitled Keeping the Promise: Victim Safety and Batterer Accountability. Areas of Inquiry A significant component of the task force s work has involved the development of a series of Recommended Guidelines and Practices . These Guidelines and Practices were derived from statutory and other mandates as well as suggestions for improvements in the administration of justice relating to cases alleging domestic violence.

8 In general, the Guidelines and Practices fall into the following categories of inquiry: Court leadership; Restraining orders; Firearms relinquishment; Entry of restraining and protective orders into the Domestic Violence Restraining Order System (DVROS) and access to that system; and Criminal law procedures. Methodology Over a period of two years, the task force met eight times and conducted a series of conference calls, both to develop and discuss the proposed Guidelines and Practices and to review the comments, public hearing testimony, and regional court meeting summaries received. In crafting its recommendations, the task force relied on the expertise and experience of its members, an extensive literature search, recommendations submitted by presiding judges and court executive officers, suggestions from attendees at judicial education programs in subject areas relating to domestic violence, and survey results from court staff and family law judicial officers.

9 In addition, the task force conducted two invitational forums designed to develop proposals in the difficult areas of firearms restrictions and relinquishment and access to and entry of orders into DVROS. In March 2007, the task force conducted public hearings in San Francisco and Los Angeles. In May and June 2007, Chief Justice George invited local courts to conduct community meetings designed to determine how the proposals would work practically in local jurisdictions. Regional court meetings were then convened in Sonoma, Burlingame, and Torrance to bring court leaders together to share the results of the local meetings and to further develop the proposals. Finally, the task force conducted focus groups with specific stakeholders and interactive meetings with the following Judicial Council 8advisory committees: Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee, Criminal Law Advisory Committee, Collaborative Justice Courts Advisory Committee, Trial Court Presiding Judges Advisory Committee, and Court Executives Advisory Committee.

10 Guiding Principles Development of the task force proposals was guided by the following key principles, as well as by goals previously established by the Judicial Council: Promote the safety of all court participants; Ensure accountability of domestic violence perpetrators; Improve accessibility to the courts for the parties by maximizing convenience, minimizing barriers, and ensuring fairness for a diverse population; Promote the use of technology to enhance the administration of justice in cases involving domestic violence allegations; and Emphasize the need for court leadership and adequate resources. These overarching principles are consistent with and derived from the Judicial Council s strategic plan and three of its primary goals: Access, Fairness, and Diversity; Quality of Justice and Service to the Public; and Modernization of Management and administration .