DOI: 10.3886/icpsr36608.v1
title: Injury Evidence, Forensic Evidence and the Prosecution of Sexual Assault, United States, 2005-2011
title: Version 1

description: These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
This project explored the use and impact of injury evidence and biological evidence through a study of the role of these forms of evidence in prosecuting sexual assault in an urban district attorney's office in a metropolitan area in the eastern United States.  The research questions addressed in this summary overview were as follows:
 How frequent were different forms of injury evidence and biological evidence in the sample?;  Is the presence of injury evidence and biological evidence correlated with the presence of other forms of evidence?; Which types of cases and case circumstances are more likely to yield injury evidence and biological evidence?;  Do the presence of injury evidence and biological evidence predict criminal justice outcomes, taking into account the effects of other predictors?;  In what ways do prosecutors use injury evidence and biological evidence and what is their appraisal of their impact on case outcomes?;   The collection contains 1 SPSS data file, DataArchiveFile_InjuryEvidenceForensicEvidenceandthe ProsecutionofSexualAssault4-7-17.sav (n=257; 417 variables).The qualitative data files were excluded from deposit with ICPSR and are not available as part of this data collection at this time.
description: The purpose of this project was to study the use and value of physical and forensic evidence in the prosecution of criminally charged sexual assault cases and the relationship of these forms of evidence to criminal justice outcomes like guilty pleas, convictions and sentences.
description: The study site was a major city in the eastern United States. The project analyzed case data from 257 cases of alleged sexual assault with adult or adolescent victims (Age 12 or older) that the police department referred to the District's Attorney's Office between 2005 and 2011. Data were abstracted from prosecutor paper files, from crime laboratory reports, and from documentation completed by medical examiners who conducted forensic medical examinations following the assault. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with eight Assistant District Attorneys (ADAs)in the District Attorney's office who had experience prosecuting sexual assault cases (not archived). Interviews aimed to obtain a better understanding of how prosecutors use injury evidence and biological evidence in prosecuting sexual assault and how they assessed the impact of these forms of evidence on case outcomes.
description: The collection includes one SPSS dataset: DataArchiveFile_InjuryEvidenceForensicEvidenceandtheProsecutionofSexualAssault4-7-17.sav (n=257; 417 variables);   Variables include: victim demographics, suspect demographics, ways a suspect was identified, attack and assault specifics, number and nature of injuries , witness type (eyewitness or other), victim credibility, presence of physical evidence and evidence type, criminal charges, case outcomes and circumstances contributing to case outcomes, and PSCR (Provider Sexual Crime Report)information.
description: Presence of Common Scales: 
					None
description: Response Rates: 
					Not applicable
description: Datasets: 
					
						DS1: Dataset
description: record abstracts
description: Sexual assault cases in an urban district attorney's office in a metropolitan area in the eastern United States.
				   		Smallest Geographic Unit: None
description: The sample frame consisted of all sexual assault cases with adult or adolescent victims (age 12 or older) in a metropolitan city in eastern Massachusetts that the police department for that city referred to the District Attorney's Office between 2005 and 2011. The years were selected to ensure adequate sample size and include cases that are relatively current but distant enough for a criminal justice disposition to be reached. A staff member of the Sexual Assault Unit of the Police Department compiled a list of police incident numbers of all such cases during this time period. This list was forwarded to the County District Attorney's Office, where a staff member located all cases on the list that had been referred to the D.A.'s Office and had case files available. Of 452 cases identified by the police department, 257 cases met study criteria and had case files maintained by the prosecutor's office.