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Dominica\u2019s new resident judge, Justice Richard Floyd, who is assigned to the criminal division of the High Court has voiced concerns over certain methods of investigation employed by members of the Commonwealth of Dominica Police Force (CDPF) during their investigation of sexual offenses.<\/p>\n
In what the police says is designed to elicit the truth from both the complainant and the defendant, a \u201cconfrontation\u201d is held between both parties.<\/p>\n
In speaking to a senior police officer, Dominica News Online (DNO) was informed that in keeping with this long-standing practice, no criminal charge will be laid against a person before they are allowed to defend themselves face-to-face with their accusers, especially in indictable matters.<\/p>\n
This procedure involves the police inviting both the complainant and the defendant to attend the same location, often the alleged crime scene. Once there the police ask the alleged victim to repeat their allegations in the presence of the defendant. The defendant is then, while under caution, asked to give a response to the allegation.<\/p>\n
However, Justice Floyd contends, such practice should be discontinued as according to him this demonstrates a lack of empathy for the victim.<\/p>\n
His remarks came while handing down his sentence to Frank Joseph Laurent of Sineku who was sentenced to 26 months imprisonment following his conviction of indecent assault.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe court finds this method of investigation to be quite surprising,\u201d Justice Floyd opined. \u201cIf the intention of the police and other agencies is to encourage the reporting of serious crimes, particularly crimes of domestic violence and sexual assault, treating complainants in this fashion would seem contrary to that end.\u201d<\/p>\n
He posited that when placed in the presence of their alleged abuser and asked to repeat the allegations, the extreme discomfort that would impose upon most of the complainants would appear obvious.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeaving aside the curious decision of the police to generate multiple statements from the complainant, the procedure appears to demonstrate a complete lack of empathy for the circumstances of the complainant and lack of understanding of the dynamics of power and control in situations of domestic and sexual abuse,\u201d the High Court judge averred.<\/p>\n
He continued, \u201cIt would therefore not be surprising if knowing that she will be subjected to such distressing treatment, a complainant might think twice about making a police report in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Justice Floyd, therefore, encouraged investigating officers of the CDPF to revisit this policy \u201cin this day and age,\u201d and consider whether it remains a viable and appropriate approach to criminal investigations, particularly of crimes of this sexual nature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dominica\u2019s new resident judge, Justice Richard Floyd, who is assigned to the criminal division of the High Court has voiced concerns over certain methods of investigation employed by members of the Commonwealth of Dominica Police Force (CDPF) during their investigation…","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":300900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,77,235,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-300899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-court-law","category-homepage","category-homepage-carousel","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n