The criminal justice system can be divided into two categories: the rights of the accused and the rights of the victims. Our legal process tries to balance the constitutional rights of those accused of a crime with the duty to protect the well-being of and obtain justice for crime victims.
For example, the judicial process aims to minimize the exposure of crime victims to additional fear, anxiety, and intimidation by the perpetrators of the alleged trauma. On the other hand, our Constitution also guarantees the rights of suspects to confront their accusers in court and represent themselves at trial.
But does this mean that rape victims can be questioned on the witness stand by the person who allegedly raped them?
That’s the conundrum that women’s advocates and members of the legal community are dealing with in King County right now. This month, the rape trial of D’Marco Mobley will begin with Mobley choosing to represent himself in court. That means that he will get the chance to pose questions to the three women he is accused of raping. Thats the guarantee of the Sixth Amendment.
The Washington Supreme Court is asking for input on a rule to restrict this practice of accusers questioning their alleged victims. The Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs has submitted some guidelines which are intended to spare rape victims the added horror of being interrogated by the person who allegedly traumatized them. These guidelines allow for judges to determine if there is a good reason for restricting face-to-face questioning in these circumstances, and then arrange for either: standby counsel (which is a lawyer who is called upon to assist people who are representing themselves) to read questions prepared by the defendant to the witness, or the defendant to question the witness via videoconferencing from a different location
Sadly, any rules implemented by the state Supreme Court won’t be ready for at least another year, which probably won’t be in time to impact the Mobley case and will most certainly lead to an appeal if he is convicted. The difficult task of balancing the strong interests of the parties is progressing though. Hopefully they will create a process for witness questioning by self-represented alleged rapists which takes into account both the rights of the accused and the victims.