Total Credits: 1.0 including 0.0 Ethics CLE
Success is not just a verdict, it is also building and keeping a healthy, mutually beneficial, and professional relationship with victim survivors during capital and complex homicide litigation. Relationship building, at times, may seem like an overwhelming task, particularly for newer capital and complex homicide prosecutors. Thoughtful, purpose driven preparation can improve every practicing attorney's skill in understanding and interacting with surviving families and witnesses of these serious crimes.
| Capital Litigation and Building a Positive Relationship with Survivors Handout (4.6 MB) | 20 Pages | Available after Purchase |
Colleen Hendricks, the third member of AZCVRLG, is a victim advocate with 42 years of experience and commitment to advocating for and assisting crime victims. Ms. Hendricks has directed a comprehensive 24/7 victim service agency, been a victim compensation administrator, created the first university accredited crisis intervention/crime victimization course in the United States for Northern Arizona University – making it a core class for social work and elective for criminal justice, nursing, and education majors. For fifteen years, as Adjunct Professor at NAU, she brought together students, professionals, and community members, many volunteering with her agency. Ms. Hendricks was an active member of the committee that wrote the original legislation for the Arizona Crime Victims’ Bill of Rights and was on the Arizona Victim Rights Implementation Committee. Ms. Hendricks has been an investigative and prosecutorial subject matter expert and victim trauma specialist and trainer with AZ POST and CA POST, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, FDLE, and trained crisis response and victimology with response for NOVA, OVC, CA OCJP, and in private practice throughout the country. Ms. Hendricks was an on-site OVC/NOVA responder to 9/11 and has served on many criminal justice-oriented committees, boards, and state appointed positions, including assigned as Victim Rights faculty advisor to the Arizona Supreme Court when the AZ Victim’s Bill of Rights Initiative passed in 1990.
For the past 20 years, Dan Levey has been providing victim advocacy and support services to crime victims as Executive Director and the National President of the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children, Governor's Adviser for Victims, and Director of Victim Services at the Attorney General's Office. Mr. Levey has served as State Chairman of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Operations Council, board member, and National President of the National Organization of Victim Assistance, a member of the National Institute of Justice, Cold Case Task Force. Mr. Levey currently serves on the Arizona Supreme Court's Commission on Victims In the Courts, the Arizona Supreme Court Capital Case Committee, and the Arizona Attorney General's Victim Rights Advisory Committee. Mr. Levey has received several awards for his advocacy, including the United States Attorney General's Ronald W. Reagan Public Policy Award honoring individuals whose leadership, vision, and innovation have led to significant changes in public policy and practice that benefit crime victims. Mr. Levey has crafted numerous pieces of victim rights legislation and has testified before the Arizona State Legislature and the United States Congress regarding victim rights issues. He has appeared in national and local media. He has worked with and trained criminal justice professionals across the United States, sharing the latest techniques and best practices for aiding victims and families through the often-painful realities of the criminal justice system. Mr. Levey has been a dedicated advocate for victim rights since 1996, when he suffered a personal tragedy involving the murder of his brother Howard in a random act of violence in Phoenix, Arizona.
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