Lethality Factors

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  1. Introduction
  2. Types of Domestic Violence
  3. Habitual DV Offenders
  4. Power and Control
  5. The Cycle of Violence
  6. Counter-Intuitive Victim Behaviors
  7. Mandatory Arrest
  8. Lethality Factors
  9. Protection Orders and Bond
  10. Firearm Relinquishment and Affidavits
  11. Recantation
  12. Consulting the Victim about a Plea Offer
  13. “No Face, No Case”
  14. Prima-Facie Case Requirement
  15. Preparing for Trial
  16. Trial
  17. Sentencing
  18. Victim Resources

Research conducted by Jacquelyn C. Campbell, Ph.D., R.N., has associated certain factors with a higher risk that the abuser will seriously injure or kill the victim. See Danger Assessment, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, available at https://www.dangerassessment.org/.

These factors include:

      1. Use or threatened use of a weapon
      2. Threats to kill
      3. Victim’s belief offender may kill them
      4. Access to a firearm
      5. Strangulation
      6. Violently or constantly jealous
      7. Control most of victim’s daily activities
      8. Recently separated
      9. Offender is unemployed
      10. Offender has tried to kill themselves
      11. Victim has a child that offender knows is not theirs
      12. Follow or spy or leave threatening messages
      13. Victim is pregnant

Id.

Some factors present greater risk of lethality than others. For example, one study discovered that women who were threatened or assaulted with a gun or other weapon were twenty times more likely than other women to be murdered. (Campbell et al., 2003b).

Some but not all law enforcement now conduct DV risk assessments on scene, including, among others:

      1. The Danger Assessment
      2. Lethality Assessment Protocol (LAP)
      3. Ontario Domestic Abuse Risk Assessment (ODARA)

Prosecutors should consider these factors and the assessment’s predicted risk of lethality throughout a DV case, but especially when first reviewing a case, arguing bond, considering whether to agree to modify a mandatory protection order, when crafting plea offers, and when speaking with a victim. Citing the factors applicable to a specific case and alerting the judge to moderate and high-risk offenders can help persuade judges to set a higher cash bond or deny a defendant’s or victim’s requests to modify the no-contact order. Knowing these factors will also assist in crafting a plea offer that protects the victim and the victim’s children, and provide excellent arguments at sentencing.

Resources

Websites

The Colorado DV Fatality Review Board

Recorded Trainings

Domestic Violence Lethality Assessment