Victim Services in California Criminal Law Cases
If you have been victimized by a crime, you may feel lost in the criminal justice system.
The prosecutor may be too busy to take your calls, you may not know where to go or when to go there, you may be suffering emotional trauma from the crime, and you may be terrified of retaliation by the defendant or his or her friends if you testify.
You may wonder why all of a sudden so much seems to revolve around the defendant and the defendant's "rights."
What about crime victims?
The good news is that crime victims have many rights in California, and a host of services are available to help crime victims recover losses and get back on their feet.
If you are a crime victim, you may be able to access the following kinds of services, among others:
- Crisis intervention
- Emergency food, housing or clothing assistance
- Counseling
- Assistance obtaining the return of evidence
- Transportation to court
- Protection services
- Notification to employers
- Help with childcare
If you are a crime victim and need assistance getting the services you need, please give our California Crime Victim Advocate Attorneys a call.1 We've worked as both prosecutors and defense attorneys and know how to put the system to work for you.
You might also be interested in reading our related articles on victims rights and victim advocacy: Victim Rights and Victim Advocacy in California Criminal Cases; Preparing a California Crime Victim for the Witness Stand; Advocating in Court for California Crime Victims; Victim Restitution & Compensation in California Criminal Cases; Calculating Restitution Orders in California; and Making a Restitution Claim to the California Crime Victim Compensation Fund (CalVCP).
1 Our California Crime Victim Advocate Attorneys have local Los Angeles law offices in Beverly Hills, Burbank, Glendale, Lancaster, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Pomona, Torrance, Van Nuys, West Covina and Whittier. We have additional law offices conveniently located throughout the state in Orange County, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, San Jose, Oakland, the San Francisco Bay area, and several nearby cities.
