Crime Victims

Saying that previous attempts by the state to aid victims of violent crimes have been "negligible," State Rep. Charles F. Nahill Jr. of Abington this week introduced a series of bills that would establish a Pennsylvania Victim's Advocate Office. Nahill, a Republican, was flanked by two fellow Republicans, Philadelphia District Attorney Ronald Castille and state Rep. Jon D. Fox of Abington, Tuesday during a news conference to announce the bills. Nahill said the bills were "the beginning of a push for the rights of victims.

Sometimes at night when her ex-husband's face flashes in her mind, Joan Stone said, she can feel the fear she first felt on a night in 1984 when he tried to kill her, a fear that often won't let her sleep. That is when she finds herself dialing up Bobbie Franzyshen of the Burlington County Office of Victim Witness Advocacy, an office that since 1976 has helped crime victims cope both with their fears and the state's legal system. "It's great having someone who understands to talk to," said Stone, 47, a south Burlington County mother of four.

The two-bedroom apartment on West Tulpehocken Street in Germantown looked like a good deal when the 28-year-old music teacher and her roommate, a Temple University undergraduate, moved in two years ago. The building and grounds, graced by tall shade trees, appeared well-kept; the rent was reasonable - $455 a month - and, more important, the building seemed safe. But sometime before midnight on July 2 last year, an intruder broke into their first-floor unit in the English Manor Apartments and raped and assaulted the women.

Crime victims are expected to collect substantially more court-ordered restitution from criminal defendants, and cities should collect more in court fines, because of a state law that took effect yesterday. "This is victims' rights legislation. It's also going to help the city and counties enforce court-ordered restitution, fines and fees after a finding of guilt against a defendant," District Attorney Ronald D. Castille said at a news briefing where he was joined by Municipal Court Judge Alan K. Silberstein, who drafted the original legislation.

Violent tales of rape and murder and drug abuse riveted county and state law enforcement officials who gathered yesterday to mark National Crime Victims' Rights Week. The audience fell silent as victims of crime spoke one by one during the all-day event sponsored by the Gloucester County Prosecutors Office at the Holiday Inn. "My sense of well-being, self-worth was completely stripped from me," said a woman from Gibbstown, who was raped eight years ago and asked that she not be identified.

Richard B. Goldman, 58, legal counsel for the Victims of Crime Compensation Board and former chief of staff for the New Jersey Department of Labor and Industry, died of cancer Sunday at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. A Ewing resident, Mr. Goldman served as legal counsel for the crime compensation board for the last three years. He also was the board's ethics liaison officer. "He was an unselfish state official . . . who gave of himself with honesty and integrity," said Jacob Toporek, chairman of the compensation board.

When confronted by a menacing thug who wants money, most people hand it over in the hope of avoiding violence. Or so they say, when asked in a calm, rational environment. "In reality, most people don't hand over the money," said Robert Hall, a self-defense instructor at the Rochester Institute of Technology. "Instead, they respond to the degradation of personhood involved. " Some turn to martial arts and "fight-and-flight" techniques, and some even use weapons. Hall and James Tasker, another self-defense instructor at the institute, recently gave a lecture and demonstration, called "People in Conflict," at Widener University in Chester.

THE PROBLEM: Last month, Louis Jargow was stabbed as he was walking home from work. He doesn't completely remember what happened, but he thinks someone came up from behind, stabbed him in the side and took the iPhone he was carrying - leaving him bleeding face-down on the ground somewhere near his West Philly apartment. He managed to stumble to his girlfriend's place. She called the police. Thankfully, Jargow turned out to be OK. He was released from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania a few days later.

If ever there was a likely booster for the cause of empowering crime victims, it's Bud Welch of Oklahoma City. After his 23-year-old daughter, Julie, perished in the 1995 federal building bombing there, Mr. Welch recalls wanting to see the co-conspirators "fried" rather than tried in court. But the latest push in Congress to enshrine a victims' bill of rights in the U.S. Constitution does not enjoy Bud Welch's support. Nor does it have the backing of numerous groups equally as concerned as Mr. Welch with seeking justice for victims.

Voters who want to fight crime and help crime victims should vote on Nov. 3 in favor of the proposed constitutional amendment giving prosecutors the right to ask for jury trials. The foundation of America's criminal justice system is the right to a trial by jury. And crime victims, as much as criminals, sometimes cannot get a fair trial without a jury. Recently in Montgomery County, a defendant pummeled his girlfriend's 7-year old, crushing her pancreas and splitting her colon, hospitalizing her for 28 days.