Examining Connections between the Police and Prosecution in Sexual Assault Case Processing: Does the Use of Exceptional Clearance Facilitate a Downstream Orientation?

Abstract

After several decades of research on how the criminal justice system handles reports of sexual assault, the attrition of cases at the police and prosecutor stages continues to draw the attention of policy makers, victim advocates, and academics. Such attrition has implications for thousands of victims and their alleged offenders each year. Current estimates show that significant rates of attrition persist and vary across jurisdictions. Recent work in two jurisdictions reveals a pattern of exceptional clearances being used to close sexual assault cases reported to the police and that prosecutors are weighing in at the arrest stage. Broadening this analysis we use incident data from a multitude of jurisdictions that report to the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) in combination with data from other law enforcement sources to investigate how legal and extra-legal incident factors as well as agency factors differentiate the decision to clear cases by exceptional means from clearance by arrest. We find that 1 Downloaded by [University of New England] at 23:21 28 March 2016 2 A. Pattavina et al.agency, legal, and extra-legal factors predict the use of exceptional clearance relative to arrest and discuss how these findings suggest a downstream orientation in case processing.

Why Police “Couldn't or Wouldn't” Submit Sexual Assault Kits for Forensic DNA Testing: A Focal Concerns Theory Analysis of Untested Rape Kits

“…For example, Tasca et al (2013Tasca et al ( : 1167) cited a police report in which a detective wrote, "Victim is a prostitute, addict, smoked crack with suspect;" (see also Shaw et al 2017). These indexes of perceived credibility-and others-are consistent predictors of case closures, exceptional clearances, unfounding decisions, false report designations, or otherwise no actions taken in reported rape cases (Kaiser et al 2017;Kelley & Campbell 2013;Morabito et al 2016;Murphy et al 2014;Pattavina et al 2016;Spohn & Tellis 2010;Spohn et al 2014;Tasca et al 2013). From this body of work, it stands to reason that police may not submit rape kits for forensic DNA testing if they believe that victims are not credible.…”

Arrest and Referral Decisions in Sexual Assault Cases: The Influence of Police Discretion on Case Attrition

“…Significant extralegal variables associated with prosecutors' decisions include: victim characteristics (Beichner and Spohn 2012;LaFree 1981;Spears and Spohn 1997;Spohn and Horney 1996), suspect characteristics (Beichner and Spohn 2005;Horney and Spohn 1996;LaFree 1981;Spohn and Horney 1996), victim credibility factors and risk-taking behaviors (Beichner and Spohn 2012;LaFree 1981;Spears and Spohn 1997), and the relationship between the victim and suspect (Beichner and Spohn 2005). Another critical factor in sexual assault case attrition is the influence of police discretion, particularly as it relates to arrest and case forwarding decisions (Alderden and Ullman 2012;Horney and Spohn 1996;Kelley and Campbell 2013;Pattavina et al 2016;Tasca et al 2013).…”

“…Research on the reporting of sexual assaults and sexual assault case attrition has increased markedly in recent decades (Horney and Spohn 1996;Kelley and Campbell 2013;LaFree 1981;Pattavina et al 2016;Rose and Randall 1982;Tasca et al 2013). Results from sexual violence studies have yielded important contributions to public awareness, prevention strategies, and policy development.…”

Predictors of Texas Police Chiefs’ Satisfaction with Police–Prosecutor Relationships

“…However, there are instances in which prosecutors may become more involved in the early stages of case processing, such as when prosecutors engage in informal case screening for certain types of cases before a decision to arrest has been made (Pattavina, Morabito, & Williams, 2015;Spohn & Tellis, 2010). In sexual assault cases, prosecutors are involved in decision-making at the arrest stage in many jurisdictions, conflating prosecutorial case screening decisions based on sufficiency of the evidence to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt with the police decision regarding whether to make an arrest, which should be made based on a probable cause standard (Pattavina et al, 2015;Spohn & Tellis, 2010).…”

“…In sexual assault cases, prosecutors are involved in decision-making at the arrest stage in many jurisdictions, conflating prosecutorial case screening decisions based on sufficiency of the evidence to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt with the police decision regarding whether to make an arrest, which should be made based on a probable cause standard (Pattavina et al, 2015;Spohn & Tellis, 2010). Using informal prosecutorial case screening as the basis for a decision to exceptionally clear a sexual assault case rather than make an arrest benefits both agencies, by inflating the prosecutor's charging rate and facilitating a high conviction rate while inflating the police department's total clearance rate, but may come at the expense of justice for victims who are denied access to the courts (Spohn & Tellis, 2010).…”