Victim, witness funds dry up in California

Juvenile Justice Digest, Apr 18, 2003

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has opened a campaign to find ways to improve funding for crime victim and witness protection program that is critical in the state's fight against a surge in gang-related violence.

"It is currently one of the budget cuts in the governor's January budget proposal," the attorney general said, "and we need to talk seriously with the governor and the legislature about the public safety impact."

Lockyer and district attorneys have said witnesses to violent crimes, especially in gang-related killings, will either refuse to cooperate with authorities or be killed if the program isn't saved.

"I think I can honestly say in Los Angeles County, if we do not receive funds to protect witnesses, people will die," Jim Provenza, an assistant Los Angeles County district attorney, said at a news conference.

The fund financed primarily through fines and penalties paid by felons has no reserve and has already begun to cut mental health benefits for some witnesses and crime victims.

Lockyer, the California District Attorneys Association and the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board that manages the fund have been working for some time to find ways to replenish it.

The solutions include increases in criminal fines and the amount taken from inmate trust funds. Once a reserve is restored, the law would then let witness protection money start flowing again.

California paid $124 million last year to crime victims and has relocated 3,800 witnesses and family members that testified against 2,850 defendants since 1998.

"We're talking here about serious gang murderers." Lockyer said.