To curb domestic violence, Norfolk reviews deaths

NORFOLK

Agencies across the city have agreed to review cases in which a domestic-

violence victim was killed, in hopes of finding ways to better help other, living victims.

The domestic-violence fatality review team brings together prosecutors, police, medical examiners, social workers, defense attorneys and a host of others who may have interacted with the person who eventually died at the hands of a significant other. Norfolk's team met for the first time last month to review a 2005 case and will meet again in November.

A state statute established the framework for the review teams about 10 years ago. It enables agencies to exchange information in confidence so those who dealt with the victim can speak candidly.

Norfolk prosecutor Linda Bryant said the team reviews only cases that have been completely closed. The group's first meeting centered on a case from 2005.

Dr. Virginia Powell works in the state medical examiner's office and at one time supervised fatality review teams. She said there are 12 such domestic-violence fatality review teams in Virginia, including several around Richmond. Locally, Hampton, Newport News and Williamsburg have teams.

"The whole princip le behind fatality review is that when someone dies, especially a violent death, it's a sentinel event for a community and ultimately preventable," Powell said.

Powell said the intense investigation that follows such a death provides a picture that nonlethal cases of domestic violence do not. The confidentiality guaranteed by the statute allows the group "to tell the story of what happened," Powell said.

"They can answer this question: Who met the victim along the way?" she said. "Did they have the right training and resources to help that person?"

When teams look at cases over the course of years, Powell said, they see gaps in services designed to help victims.

One team discovered that criminal statutes about domestic violence referred to family members or live-in domestic partners, but not to dating partners. Another team found that they should pay more attention to reports of stalking as a high risk factor for domestic-

violence assaults. A third team used its findings to develop a program to educate employers about workplace domestic violence.

Hampton Commonwealth's Attorney Linda Curtis said her city's domestic-violence review team has been in place about five years.

"The point is to see not if we could have prevented it, but is there something we can learn that will help us make a different decision next time," she said.

Linda Nimmersheim heads the Spousal Abuse Friend and Educator Program in Norfolk and serves on the review team. Even from one meeting, she said, she had ideas about how city agencies could better help victims.

"It's a really good thing," she said.

Michelle Washington, (757) 446-2287, michelle.washington@pilotonline.com