Comparing the Role Victims Play in Criminal Court: Mexico vs. North Carolina

Two years ago, I wrote about training prosecutors, forensic experts, and investigative police in Mexico. I’ve been back a couple of times since, including last week. Each time I learn something that makes me reflect on the workings of our own justice system. On my most recent trip, I learned more about the role of the victim in Mexico, and it got me thinking about the role of the victim in our criminal courts. The victim vs. the prosecution. I spent an afternoon at a Mexican courthouse observing criminal proceedings. Some felt familiar, like the first appearance for a defendant arrested for selling drugs. The judge assessed whether there was sufficient evidence to support the charge, and finding that there was, decided whether to release the defendant pending trial or to detain him. Other proceedings were alien to me. The most interesting was a hearing in which the prosecutor sought the judge’s permission to dismiss a case over the objection of the victim and the victim’s attorney. The victim’s attorney is called the asesor jurídico, and the victim’s right to be represented by an attorney was enacted as part of Mexico’s recent criminal justice reforms. The defendant wasn’t present for the hearing, and the victim and her attorney sat at the table where the defendant normally would have been. The prosecution argued that the case was weak and that the victim had been difficult to work with, while the victim replied that the prosecution had failed to seek out readily available [...]