Version 1

The researchers collected data from three time periods: (1) prior to September 1994, which marked the start of the special domestic violence court, (2) between September 1994 and January 1995, the period after the special court began and before the change in the district attorney's charging policy, and (3) post-January 1995, after the change in the district attorney's charging policy. For the first experiment, several samples were selected from court and DA records to assess the impact of the special domestic violence court. Three samples of domestic violence cases (court samples) filed by the prosecutor were collected: (1) 237 cases from Summer 1994, (2) 190 cases from Fall 1994, and (3) 242 cases from Spring 1995. These samples allowed the researchers to examine how the handling of domestic violence cases changed with the introduction of the special court in September 1994, and how case processing changed again after the DA liberalized his charging policy in January 1995. For the second experiment, three additional samples (complaint room samples) were collected of domestic cases declined by the prosecutor, which were drawn from the same time periods as the samples of prosecuted cases: (1) 152 cases from Summer 1994, (2) 155 cases from Fall 1994, and (3) 152 cases from Spring 1995. The researchers compared the samples of prosecuted and not prosecuted cases to determine how victim attendance at the charging conference and other factors affected the decision to prosecute during the three time periods. Data collection sheets for nolle processed cases were identical to the sheets designed for prosecuted cases except that disposition information was omitted.