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Appendixes
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Appendixes [35.175.236.44] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 11:02 GMT) 169 Appendix A Interview Questions for Judges about Victim Impact Statements 1. How long have you been a judge in Hennepin/Ramsey County? 2. How often do you see a victim impact statement (VIS) submitted to you before a sentencing hearing? How often does the victim give allocution of that statement at the hearing? 3. What factors do you commonly weigh before deciding on a sentence? 4. How important is the existence of a VIS in the context of all the other factors that influence your decision? Which is the most important factor in deciding on a sentence? 5. Do you give more weight to a victim who gives allocution of that VIS at the hearing itself? Or does it matter? 6. In considering a VIS, do you consider separately the victim’s statement of the emotional impact of the crime and the victim’s opinion of the kind and degree of sentence that the defendant should receive? If you do consider these separately, which carries more weight with you? The emotional appeal or the reaction to a possible sentence? 7. Are there universal standards or professional guidelines that help you determine how much weight to give the VIS? Over time, have you developed your own standards or guidelines that help you determine how much weight to give the VIS? And would you share those with me? 8. Could you recall for me a VIS that made a particular impression on you? And why? 9. Is there anything else that you would like to share with me about the courtroom, the sentencing decisions that you must make, and/or VISs? 170 Appendix B Interview Questions for Victim Advocates about Victim Impact Statements 1. Could you describe how you have worked with victims in the past to develop victim impact statements (VISs)? What tools and guidelines do you provide such victims? 2. Generally how is victim impact gathered by your office or organization, by the prosecutor’s office, or by probation? 3. What do you think motivates victims to submit a VIS? What might make them reluctant? Whom do you think that a victim who writes an impact statement perceives the audience to be? 4. Do you think that it is more important for the victim to express the emotional impact of the crime or to express an opinion as to the kind and degree of the sentence? Or both? Generally which of these two purposes are victims more successful in accomplishing? 5. How often do victims elect not only to write an impact statement but also to attend and speak at the sentencing hearing? Do you think that it’s important for a victim to attend the sentencing hearing—and do you urge them to do so? 6. In your experience, if a victim elects not to attend a hearing and to give allocution, why does the victim choose not to do so? 7. How much weight do you think judges give to VISs? In terms of the other factors that the judge must weigh in determining a sentence, which factor do you think is most important? 8. In your opinion, what features must a persuasive VIS have? Could you share with me the description of any VIS that you think had a particular impact on the judge—in terms of expressing the emotional impact of the crime or in influencing the kind and degree of sentence or both? 9. Is there anything else you would like to share with me in terms of your experience in working with victims in general? Or in submitting VISs? Or in giving allocution at a sentencing hearing? 171 Appendix C Observation Form for Victim Impact Statements Offered in Sentencing Hearings Your Name: ____________________ Date: __________________________ Case Number: __________________ Judge: _________________________ Offense: _______________________ Advocate:_______________________ Defendant:_____________________ Relationship to Victim: ____________ Sentence: ______________________________________________________ I. How was the victim impact statement (VIS) presented in court (circle all that apply)? a. read by the victim or family member in the hearing b. read by the county attorney/prosecutor in hearing c. read by advocate in hearing d. submitted in writing before the hearing e. other: __________________________ II. Was it your impression that the VIS was offered to (circle all that apply) a. argue for a particular sentence or treatment plan b. bring closure to the emotional effect of the crime on the victim c. give the victim a sense that justice is being...