Colorado Crime Victims' Legal Clinic

COVA is excited to announce our decision to team up with John Clune and Sheri Vanino at Victim Justice, PC to continue the work of the Colorado Crime Victims Legal Clinic under the newly formed Rocky Mountain Victim Law Center.

The Colorado clinic is the 8th pro bono legal clinic in the nation supported by the National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI). It is COVA’s belief that crime victims will get the very best representation under this new arrangement with the RM-VLC. The purpose of the clinic is the litigation and enforcement of crime victims' rights and providing pro bono legal representation to victims seeking to enforce their rights under the Colorado and Federal Crime Victim Rights Act. Direct representation during a case helps to ensure victims become an equal participant in court proceedings, rather than observers. The Victim Law Center will be representing crime victims in Colorado whom are unable to pay for legal services and where the Center feels it could have a successful impact on the case.

John and Sheri currently run Victim Justice, PC, a private law firm that increases options for victims in civil and criminal cases and represents 25 years of legal and advocacy work on behalf of victims of sexual assault, child molestation, homicide, and domestic violence. John Clune, Attorney for the firm, specializes in victim’s rights and victim representation and Sheri Vanino, Victim Advocate for the firm, is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in trauma. Under the new direction of John and Sheri, the Victim Law Center will have a solid understanding of both the legal and advocacy perspectives of crime victims.

Over the past year COVA has collaborated with Victim Justice PC on numerous pro-bono criminal cases in Colorado. Along with others groups, Victim Justice PC has helped COVA to file several briefs on behalf of victims in the Colorado Supreme Court. In the future, COVA will support the Victim Law Center by coordinating educational trainings about the Victim Law Center and victims’ rights, will provide assistance in searching for funding opportunities, will actively refer clients to the Victim Law Center, and much more.

In June, the Victim Law Center was awarded continuation funding for the clinic through a Byrne/ Enforcement 4 grant through NCLVI. The Victim Law Center will seek pro-bono attorneys and interns, a diverse group of board members to govern the organization, and work with COVA to plan victims' rights trainings throughout Colorado. We are excited to continue to work with John and Sheri in this new and groundbreaking endeavor.

In addition, two recent Colorado Supreme Court rulings in cases in which the clinic filed amicus curiae briefs on behalf of the victims were decided in the victims’ favor!

The first case, People v. Disher, was an appeal of a District Court’s ruling that held that explicit evidence of a sexual relationship is necessary for a finding of an “intimate relationship” under C.R.S. Section 18-6-800.3 (2007) in order to invoke a domestic violence sentencing enhancer. The Supreme Court held that evidence of a sexual relationship is not necessary to establish the existence of an intimate relationship for the purpose of the domestic violence statute. To impose a domestic violence sentence enhancer, a court must find that an intimate relationship exists or existed between the perpetrator and the victim, and should consider such factors as the length of time the relationship existed, the type of relationship, and frequency of interaction between the parties. In this case, the Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s refusal to order a domestic violence sentence enhancer after the defendant was convicted of harassing a woman with whom he had an exclusive dating relationship.

The second case, People v. Spykstra, is a child sex assault case in which the defense counsel had attempted to subpoena all e-mails between the victim and her parents over a five year period of time. The lower court had also ordered the defense expert to go into the parent’s home to retrieve the information off their computer. The District Attorney sought the clinic’s help and two amicus briefs were filed by the clinic on behalf of the victim and her parents. The Supreme Court ruled that the District Attorney has standing to challenge the defense subpoena served on the victim’s parents. The court also held that the trial court abused its discretion in ordering the enforcement of the defense subpoenas (1) by converting the subpoenas into the functional equivalent of a search warrant when it ordered the parents to allow the defense expert into their home to search their computer for emails written by the victim, and (2) by failing to require the defendant to demonstrate a reasonable likelihood that the emails existed and were relevant and evidentiary. The Supreme Court directed the trial court to quash the subpoena served upon the victim’s parents.

The full opinions in these two cases are available and can be accessed through the Court’s homepage at www.courts.state.co.us.

Another example of how the Legal Clinic can help change lives: The Stillman twins: Making a break for their lives - The Denver Post Article, 11/22/2010

The Rocky Mountain Victim Law Center is ready and able to accept client referrals and arrange pro bono representation of victims in ongoing criminal proceedings. For more information or to refer a client, call John Clune or Sheri Vanino at 303-413-8300 or email Sheri@VictimLawCenter.org.