November 2019 Newsletter
The Durham County District Attorney’s Office Monthly Newsletter highlights the work DCDAO staff do in and out of the courthouse.
In The Community
District Attorney Satana Deberry and Durham Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis participated in a discussion about sexual assault on November 16. “Sister to Sister: A Talk on Sexual Assault” was sponsored by the Durham Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the Durham County District Attorney’s Office. It was moderated by Special Deputy Attorney General Jasmine McGhee. All three are members of the sorority.
Deberry and Davis spoke about how under-reported sexual assault is, despite its prevalence. About 52 million U.S. women and 27 million U.S. men have experienced some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetimes. Yet, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey, three-quarters of incidents of rape or sexual assault were not reported to police in 2017.
The top reason for not reporting cited by survivors is fear of reprisal; after all, most victims are assaulted by someone they know — whether an intimate partner, relative or acquaintance.
But other commonly cited reasons demonstrate a lack of faith that the system can or will act on such reports. The Bureau of Justice Statistics, in a review of cases from 2005 to 2010, found that 15 percent of survivors said they didn’t report because they believe the police could not or would not do anything to help. Another 8 percent felt the assault was not important enough to report.
The goal of the discussion was to shed light on sexual assault in the community, explain the process of investigating and prosecuting these cases, and foster an environment in which survivors of this violence feel comfortable coming forward. Much of the conversation focused on the effects of unaddressed trauma in children who are assaulted, the particular prevalence of sexual assault among women of color, and the transformative power of having women of color serve as both district attorney and police chief. The Durham DA’s Office continues to work with law enforcement and community organizations to ensure that survivors of sexual assault are supported.
“If I have black and brown women in my office who have been victims of sexual assault, they have been through it to get there. It is not easy to get your case to the DA’s office…. To actually sit down with a prosecutor as a woman of color means you have gone against almost everything that society tells you to do.” — DA Deberry
You can watch a video of Deberry and Davis’s full conversation on the Durham DA’s Office Facebook page.
Durham’s DEAR Program was recently recognized with a Navigator Award from Route Fifty, a digital news publication by Atlantic Media that covers local and state government. Ryan Smith, Durham’s Innovation Team director, Superior Court Judge Josephine Kerr Davis, District Court Judge Amanda Maris, and DA Deberry were named the winners of the “Leaders” category. The DEAR Program offers free legal assistance with license restoration and expunctions. This year, the program and its partners have waived more than $1 million in traffic court debt — putting 4,500 people one step closer to being able to restore their drivers’ licenses — and filed more than 500 petitions to help people expunge old charges and convictions from their criminal records.
The four were nominated for the award by Durham Mayor Steve Schewel. Read more about DEAR and the Navigator Award in our press release.
In the Office
Earlier this year, the DA’s Office dedicated one of its conference rooms to serve as a private space for crime victims, their families, and witnesses. Since then, staff have been looking forward to adding more amenities to the DA’s Office guest room to make it more comfortable during sometimes lengthy visits to the courthouse. Recently, the Durham DA’s Office — along with others across the state — was able to do just that. Throughout October and November, staff pitched in between work to set up a television, gaming system, toys, art, and community resource guides in the kid-friendly guest room. The room is now available for victims, families and witnesses to use while waiting for court to begin and during breaks from court proceedings. In addition to items donated by staff, this project was provided by the NC Conference of District Attorneys through federal grant #PROJ012351 awarded by the NC Governor’s Crime Commission.
The Durham County District Attorney’s Office will get a new, full-time assistant district attorney dedicated to prosecuting sexual assault cases through a $1 million grant awarded to the Durham Police Department. The ADA will focus on prosecuting cases referred to the office as Durham law enforcement submit untested sexual assault evidence kits for DNA testing.
In addition to the ADA position, the three-year grant will also fund two investigators and a victim/witness assistant at the Durham Police Department as well as additional resources for the Durham Crisis Response Center.
A statewide inventory found that about 15,000 untested sexual assault evidence kits were in the possession of North Carolina law enforcement agencies, including about 1,700 in Durham. Following a push to clear that backlog, DPD is now among the law enforcement agencies in the state to submit the most kits for testing.
As results from those kits are returned, Durham police, prosecutors, representatives fro the Durham Crisis Response Center and sexual assault nurse examiners meet twice per month to review cases and discuss next steps. So far, charges have been filed in two sexual assaults as a result of this process.
On November 5, Andrew House was sworn in as an assistant district attorney with the DA’s Office. He has been working in the office for several months as a Bridge-to-Practice fellow, and will now serve as the jail court prosecutor. A graduate of Duke Law School, he has been awarded certificates for outstanding pro bono service by both Duke and the North Carolina Bar Association.
In the Courts
On November 21, Assistant District Attorney Kendra Montgomery-Blinn secured a rare conviction in a human trafficking case. Following a week-long trial, a jury found the defendant guilty of attempted human trafficking of a minor and first-degree kidnapping. Montgomery-Blinn successfully argued in court that the defendant took the 16-year-old from Charlotte to Greensboro and then to the Raleigh-Durham International airport in an attempt to send her out of state to work as a prostitute. The conviction is the first for a human trafficking charge in Durham since a 2011 plea.
“We know human trafficking is prevalent in our state, yet the charge is very difficult to prove in court because human trafficking is based on suppressing victims through manipulation and threats. This extremely rare verdict is a testament not only to the skill and dedication of our staff, but to what can be accomplished when the justice system believes victims and puts its resources toward holding accountable those who cause serious harm in our community.” — DA Deberry
Montgomery-Blinn also closed a 2016 homicide case in which a man beat his eight-year-old son and failed to provide medical care when the child became ill, ultimately leading to his death. The defendant pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter and felony child abuse inflicting serious physical injury.
Assistant District Attorney Lindsey Spain closed a case involving a music instructor who inappropriately touched a 12-year-old student. The defendant entered an Alford plea to indecent liberties with a child. Among other sanctions, the defendant will be registered as a sex offender and will no longer be able to teach children.
In the News
DA Deberry spoke to the Herald-Sun and the 9th Street Journal about untested sexual assault evidence kits in Durham and how federal funding will help to move those cases forward.
DA Deberry discussed the Durham County District Attorney’s Office’s “historic” human trafficking conviction with the Herald-Sun.
The 9th Street Journal, covering DA Deberry and Police Chief Davis’s talk on sexual assault, explored the prevalence of sexual violence and why having women of color lead both offices matters when it comes to sexual assault cases.
The Washington Post reported on a pledge, signed by 39 prosecutors including DA Deberry, to visit local correctional facilities in the coming year. Earlier this year, Durham DA’s Office staff visited the Durham County Detention Facility in order to better understand the conditions in which people are detained pretrial.
