Defendant pleaded guilty to the aggravated assault of his wife, which resulted in a fracture of the victim's orbital wall of her right eye socket.  As part of his sentence, the trial court ordered defendant to pay over $44,000 in restitution, including over $19,000 in restitution for medical expenses arising from the victim's post-assault suicide attempt.  Defendant appealed the restitution order to the extent that it required him to pay restitution for the victim's suicide-attempt related expenses.  First, defendant argued that his wife cannot be considered a "victim" of his

Defendant, formerly a high-level employee at an international executive recruitment service firm, was indicted on charges of mail fraud, theft of trade secrets, and illegal computer intrusion, resulting from his use of his former-employer’s confidential database to help him start a competing business.  Before trial, the court issued an order granting the state’s motion to exclude from the courtroom most witnesses, including three attorneys for the corporate-victim, defendant’s former employer.  The corporate-victim moved that it had the right to designate representatives of its ch

National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is a time for communities around the country to raise awareness of crime victims’ rights.  It is also a time for the nation to pause and honor the heroes of the victims’ rights movement - victims and those who advocate on their behalf.  As part of this commemoration, every year the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) of the United States Department of Justice recognizes individuals and organizations for outstanding work devoted to crime victims through the National Crime Victims’ Service Award

During the trial of a man convicted of a number of crimes, including residential burglary, one of his victims, an individual with developmental disabilities, was afforded a facility dog, Ellie.  On appeal defendant argued that affording the victim the aid of a facility dog was so prejudicial as to amount to a violation of his constitutional right to a fair trial.  The intermediate court of appeals rejected defendant’s argument but defendant has sought further review in the Washington Supreme Court.