Opinion ID: 2257808
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Plaintiffs' Status as Victims

Text: As a threshold matter I would put to rest defendants' contention that the Bandonis do not possess any cause of action as victims because the crimes at issueโinitially, driving under the influence, and ultimately, reckless drivingโare victimless, thus relieving them of any duty to afford plaintiffs with the notice and other victims' rights as set forth in the General Laws and our Constitution. I have little trouble in rejecting this argument and I would hold that the Bandonis have alleged sufficient facts to qualify themselves as victims for purposes of Rhode Island's victimnotification requirements. First, I do not believe that the prosecution's initial decision to charge the criminal defendant with driving under the influence of alcohol (in violation of G.L.1956 ง 31-27-2) instead of driving under the influence of liquor resulting in serious bodily injury (in violation of ง 31-27-2.6) serves to abrogate any duty imposed on defendants by this state's crime-victims laws. To say that a prosecutorial decision not to charge the criminal defendant with the ง 31-27-2.6 offense had the effect of stripping the Bandonis of their victim status would be to ignore the Legislature's definition of a crime victim as one who has sustained personal injury or loss of property directly attributable to the criminal conduct of which the defendant has been charged. Sections 12-28-4.1, 12-28-4.3. Second, I conclude that the mere fact that a criminal defendant has been able to plea bargain his way to a reduced, victimless charge can hardly be dispositive of an injured person's victim status. To say that one's victim status depends on the nature of a charge would allow artful or expedient charging by the prosecution to undercut the primary purpose of the state's constitutionally guaranteed victim-notification and hearing requirements. Moreover, were the prosecution's plea bargaining to have the effect of foreclosing any right of the Bandonis to victim notification and to a presentencing hearing, then the victim-notification and hearing requirements of our laws would be rendered nugatory because they would vanish whenever prosecutorial discretion or the negotiating savvy of a defendant's attorney resulted in a reduction in the criminal charge. Such a result would contradict the evident purpose of victims' rights laws to afford such individuals greater remedial protection at the very time when they need it most: when the criminal is being sentenced for his or her crimes and attempting to get off as lightly as possible via a plea bargain or a reduced sentence.