Victims Rights

A trial centers around a person accused of a crime. His constitutional right to a fair hearing is paramount.That is the cornerstone upon which our entire system of justice rests. It is not difficult to see, however, why victims of crimes often find the trial process frustrating. They have been hurt, yet all the court's attention focuses on the person who allegedly did the hurting.For some time now, victims who ask, "What about our rights?" have gotten a sympathetic ear from politicians and voters, both of whom overwhelmingly supported a victims' rights amendment to the state constitution in last November's elections.

A Glen Burnie wrestling match is not the place one might expect to find Roberta Roper, who has been fighting for nearly two decades - since the rape, torture and murder of her daughter - on behalf of crime victims' rights. But Roper expects to be at Michael's Eighth Avenue on Wednesday as Maryland Championship Wrestling presents an eight-match show, with the victims rights organization founded in her daughter's memory as its beneficiary. A wrestling show raised more than $5,000 last year to benefit the family of county resident Lisa Marie Spicknall, whose children, Destiny and Richie, were killed by their father in 1999.

The Court of Special Appeals disappointed victims' rights advocates yesterday by dismissing a case on grounds that the trial judge mistakenly used an outdated law and then failed to explain to judges how to apply the new law.The new law would have bolstered the bid of Karla and Scott Alford of Crofton to watch the trial of Zenon Cantu Jr., who was charged with killing their baby. The law changed on Oct. 1, 1998, with their request coming four days later, after they had finished testifying in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court.

The Carroll County state's attorney and a staff member from his office will be honored Friday at the Governor's Victim Assistance Awards luncheon in Linthicum for their contributions to victims' rights and services.Jerry F. Barnes and Shirley E. Haas, director of the director of the Victim Witness Assistance Unit, are two of 30 being recognized at the luncheon, which is sponsored by the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention in conjunction with National Crime Victim Rights Week, which ends Saturday.

A Crofton couple paced a corridor and drank sodas in a conference room for a week while down the hall in the Anne Arundel County Circuit Courthouse, the man accused of killing their 17-month-old son, Nicholas, was on trial."

A Crofton couple paced a corridor and drank sodas in a conference room for a week while down the hall in the Anne Arundel County Circuit Courthouse, the man accused of killing their 17-month-old son, Nicholas, was on trial."

WASHINGTON -- America's crime victims, who have long felt rudely shoved aside when the government prosecuted their offenders, are suddenly gaining visibility and influence in the process.They insist they do not want veto power over how prosecutors deal with criminals, but they do want a voice -- and they want a guaranteed chance to observe throughout. More and more, that's exactly what they are getting.When Timothy J. McVeigh goes on trial in Denver later this month in the bombing of Oklahoma City's federal building, for example, victims' families back home in Oklahoma will be able to watch on closed-circuit television.

THE ROAD to hell, the saying goes, is paved with good intentions. And nothing can be more well-intentioned than the proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing victims' rights.While the proposed amendment might not lead to hell, it could surely lead to mischief."It might interfere with the prosecutor's ability to put away people we want to put away," said Baltimore County State's Attorney Sandra A. O'Connor.O'Connor is all for victims' rights. She supported the amendment to Maryland's Constitution guaranteeing that crime victims and their family members be informed and have input at every stage of the judicial process.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton endorsed amending the Constitution to protect the rights of crime victims, saying they should have as many rights as accused criminals in the courts."

The state's highest court gave prosecutors greater latitude yesterday in using photos of crime victims to sway juries, a ruling hailed by victims' rights advocates.The Court of Appeals ruled 4-3 that victims' photos need not carry "essential evidentiary value," but may be shown to jurors if the judge finds they are relevant and help a prosecutor's case.The court said Frederick County Circuit Judge Herbert L. Rollins was right to allow jurors to see photos of an 11-year-old boy before they convicted Paul Broberg of killing him in an April 25, 1993, drunken driving accident.

For Phyllis Bricker, a rare tour yesterday through the Supermax prison - where her parents' killer is housed on death row - was the latest step in a painful odyssey as she awaits an execution that has been on hold for years. "My parents are gone, and he's still here," Bricker said while standing inside the fortified building north of downtown, at the state prison complex on East Madison Street. For Lisa Spicknall, whose husband killed their two children in 1999 and was later slain by another inmate in prison in Jessup, there was some relief.

In a move that has outraged victims' rights advocates, lawyers for a convicted Maryland murderer are trying to have his verdict erased because he died in prison while his appeal was pending. The Maryland Court of Appeals today will hear the appeals for Stefan Tyson Bell, convicted in 2003 in the gruesome slaying of a Gambrills teenager, and two others who died before sentencing or while an appeal was pending. Prosecutors are vigorously opposing this and are hoping the outcome will end what they view as an arcane practice, rooted in common law, by which defendants had their records cleared after their death if they had not had an opportunity to complete one appeal.

The state's highest court ordered yesterday that information available on paper at courthouses across the state also be made available electronically, rebuffing prosecutors and victims' rights advocates who testified that such a decision could enable witness intimidation. In a unanimous decision made after a rules hearing before the Court of Appeals in Annapolis, the judges opposed a proposal to continue blocking computerized information about crime victims and witnesses. Such information, which can include names, addresses and phone numbers, is available in paper form at courthouses.

A Pasadena husband and wife who have taken in more than 100 foster children over 15 years were among those honored yesterday by the Anne Arundel County prosecutor's office for extraordinary service to crime victims. Victim advocate Shelley George of the prosecutor's office recalled how John and Bernice Newman showed a scared 11-year-old girl "love, understanding and compassion," helping her to speak about abuse by her father. The child's decision enabled prosecutors to move forward with charges against the man, who pleaded guilty to assault.

CHICAGO - Americans cherish and revere the Constitution. But often their attitude brings to mind the Broadway show I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. The only thing many of them like more than the Constitution is the opportunity to fix its grievous flaws. The latest suggestion for improvement stems from a belief that it shortchanges the needs of crime victims. The entire criminal justice system, of course, could be seen as a giant apparatus set up to vindicate the interests of crime victims.

A Glen Burnie wrestling match is not the place one might expect to find Roberta Roper, who has been fighting for nearly two decades - since the rape, torture and murder of her daughter - on behalf of crime victims' rights. But Roper expects to be at Michael's Eighth Avenue on Wednesday as Maryland Championship Wrestling presents an eight-match show, with the victims rights organization founded in her daughter's memory as its beneficiary. A wrestling show raised more than $5,000 last year to benefit the family of county resident Lisa Marie Spicknall, whose children, Destiny and Richie, were killed by their father in 1999.

A Glen Burnie wrestling match is not the place one might expect to find Roberta Roper, who has been fighting for nearly two decades - since the rape, torture and murder of her daughter - on behalf of crime victims' rights. But Roper expects to be at Michael's Eighth Avenue on Wednesday as Maryland Championship Wrestling presents an eight-match show, with the victims' rights organization founded in her daughter's memory as its beneficiary. A wrestling show raised more than $5,000 last year to benefit the family of county resident Lisa Marie Spicknall, whose children, Destiny and Richie, were killed by their father in 1999.

WASHINGTON -- Congress' constitutional fidgets continue. For the fourth time in 29 days, there will be a vote on a constitutional amendment. The House failed to constitutionalize fiscal policy with an amendment to require a balanced budget. The Senate failed to eviscerate the First Amendment by empowering Congress to set "reasonable limits" on the funding of political speech. The Senate failed to stop the epidemic of flag burning by an amendment empowering Congress to ban flag desecration.

IT'S AN election year. You can tell by the flurry of votes on proposed constitutional amendments in Congress this month. The latest, set for the Senate this week, is perhaps the most deceptive and dangerous -- a victims' rights amendment. On the surface it seems reasonable, similar to rights adopted in 32 states. It would guarantee crime victims the right to speak at parole, plea-bargain or sentencing hearings, to be notified of an offender's release, to restitution, and a speedy trial.

In Baltimore City Youth Forum planned April 20 to discuss community programs The Department of Recreation and Parks will hold a citywide Youth Forum from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 20 at the Poly/Western complex at Falls Road and Cold Spring Lane. The event is intended to give young people a voice in community programs that affect them. They will speak on subjects such as drug abuse, crime, teen child-raising, education and conflict resolution. After panel discussions, participants will attend workshops.