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Rice County Victim/Witness Program’s November 2011 Fraud Alert lists the top five holiday scams.  Read Alert here. Also, if anyone is interested in hosting a Fraud Seminar, please contact Vanessa Eng, Victim Services Coordinator, CASE Project Coordinator, Rice County Attorney's Office, Phone: 507-332-6103.  They are free!

Consumer Alert:  Recently, many Rice County citizens have been calling and coming to our office after receiving mailings from HomeServe.  We have attached a copy of the letter with all personal information blocked out and a Consumer Advisory regarding these mailings.

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NEW DOC victim notification SERVICE:  Over the past two years, the Minnesota Department of Corrections Victim Assistance Program (MNDOC/VAP) has been working to develop a new web-based victim notification and information system called Minnesota Choice (MNCHOICE). We are pleased to announce that this service is now available at www.MinnesotaChoice.com.

Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Justice Programs Launches New Website: dps.mn.gov.   Included in this launch is our new Office of Justice Programs website at dps.mn.gov/divisions/OJP. Some of its highlights include: Featuring upcoming events and most-used resources, improving the Victim Service Provider Directory, adding a searchable library of forms and documents, including navigation to related DPS pages.

MN Resources

• Citizens for a Safer Minnesota

• Council on Crime and Justice

• Jacob Wetterling Resource Center

• ElderCare Rights Alliance

• Minnesotans for Safe Driving

• Mothers Against Drunk Driving Minnesota

• Parents of Murdered Children (POMC) - Minnesota Hope Chapter

• Survivor Resources
  

• Battered Women’s Justice Project

• Battered Women’s Legal Advocacy Project

• Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault

• Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women

• Minnesota Office of Justice Programs  

• Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse

National Resources

• National Center for Crime Victims

• National Crime Victim Bar Association

• National Crime Victim Law Institute 
  

• Office for Victims of Crime

 Interesting cases:

National

United States v. Grigg, No. 09-6017, 2011 WL 4056317 (6th Cir. Sept. 14, 2011) (slip copy):  Defendant pled guilty to wire and mail fraud charges and received a sentence of 120 months of imprisonment, which was above the stipulated advisory guideline range.  On appeal, Defendant argued, inter alia, that the trial court erred in relying on the victim impact statements to influence its sentencing decision because the victims had not sworn to tell the truth.  The court rejected this argument, concluding that the trial court’s consideration of the unsworn statements was not “plain error.”  In reaching its decision, the court found that the right to be heard under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3771(a)(4), does not have an oath requirement.  The court also observed that trial courts generally have discretion to consider a broad range of information when determining a criminal sentence.  In addition, the court found that every court that has examined this issue has reached the same conclusion.  For this and other reasons, the court affirmed the judgment.

Jane Does #1 and #2  v. United States, No. 08-80736-CIV-Marra/Johnson (S.D. Fla. Sept. 26, 2011)

Order of the Court granting in part the victim-plaintiffs’ motion for finding violations of the Federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act relating to failure to notify of a plea agreement).  See full discussion here.