Previous Story
‘Man charged with sexual assault of minor may review girl’s DYS file’
|
Posted on Nov 01 2004
The Superior Court has allowed a man charged with sexually assaulting a minor to look into the victim’s records with the Division of Youth Services for his defense.
The court, however, declined MD. Aktar Hossain’s request to review the victim’s records with the Public Schools System, giving more weight to the girl’s privacy interest.
Presiding Judge Robert C. Naraja said allowing an in-camera review of the victim’s DYS file would ensure that the defendant “is not denied a full and fair opportunity to prepare his defense.”
“While this may be a grander generalization than the court is willing to accept unconditionally, the defendant has a legitimate point. The interests of justice demand that the court consider whether the DYS file contains relevant or exculpatory material for his defense,” Naraja said.
Hossain told the court that another man whom he identified as “Minto” might have previously sexually assaulted the victim. He said the experience could have provided the victim with background sexual knowledge normally beyond the scope of a child her age.
The court differentiated the review of the victim’s DYS file from a public release of her private information. The court, however, gave the opposite opinion regarding the requested review of the victim’s PSS records.
It dismissed Hossain’s claim that the lack of changes in the victim’s demeanor and school performance after the previous sexual assault happened would support his defense.
“By the defendant’s own logic, the victim’s outward show of strength would then be exculpatory to the defendant. Only victims that publicly crumble would be ‘rewarded’ by harming the defendant’s defense; victims who outwardly remain strong would be punished. The court will not accept such logic as a matter of policy,” Naraja said.
The judge also said that a change in the victim’s behavior would not necessarily mean anything about the defendant. “The court is not satisfied that a review of the victim’s PSS file will yield anything of importance, sufficient to outweigh the victim’s privacy interest,” the judge said.
