New Court Guide for Mass Violence Trials and Victims

The Planning and Implementation Guide for Comprehensive, Coordinated Victim Assistance for Mass Violence Incident Trials was published today by the National Mass Violence Victimization Resource Center (NMVVRC) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina, with support from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC).

The Planning and Implementation Guide for Comprehensive, Coordinated Victim Assistance for Mass Violence Incident Trials can be downloaded here.

The Guide is designed to help prosecutors, victim service professionals, and mental health providers plan for high-profile trials. The Guide focuses on victim/ survivor needs and effective, coordinated strategies to meet them.

The 95-page Guide is survivor-centered and grounded in best practices derived from previous trials in which defendants were charged with federal or state crimes that resulted in mass casualties and/ or devastating victim and community impact.

The Guide includes:

• Foundational instruction (the unique aspects of mass violence incident trials, victims’ rights, and survivor safety and security);

• Detailed planning strategies to ensure victim/survivor support efforts are clear and coordinated; and,

• Practical direction for implementing a planning strategy during court processes, including continuing services for victims in the post-trial phase of cases.

“Our focus with this important Guide is to make sure that victims’ needs are identified and addressed,” Kilpatrick said. “The experiences of my team – who supported the work of the U.S. Attorney’s Office on the Mother Emanuel AME trial in 2016 – and a strong evidence-based foundation of what helps and avoids hurting victims and survivors during criminal justice processes, is the essence of the Planning and Implementation Guide for Comprehensive, Coordinated Victim Assistance for Mass Violence Incident Trials.”

The Guide is a culmination of learned experiences from that trial and many important evidence-based resources provided by the NMVVRC.