2011 Annual Report - Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands

HISTORY OF PRETRIAL DIVERSIONThe Pretrial Intervention Program has been in existencein the Virgin Islands since 1978. This program wasestablished, in accordance with Title IV § 4611 of theVI Code, and provides the Director or the designee ofthe Pretrial Intervention Office to intervene on behalf ofdefendants of misdemeanors and non-felonious charges todivert their case away from the Court system for a certainperiod of time while the client participates in various Courtmandated activities. As a result, the charges against thesedefendants are continued pending their completion of thePretrial Diversion Program. Additionally, it was the goalof the Code to provide a means of alleviating the Court’scalendar of cases that may be handled without burdeningthe system while still being fair, impartial and meting outjustice. Pretrial diversion provides a cost effective means ofsupervising first time offenders, of misdemeanor offences,in the community while guiding them to comply with theconditions set by the Court. This program also enablesthe Court to dispense with these cases in an expeditiousmanner, while providing the offender with the opportunityto have this matter addressed quickly thereby aiding in thereduction of cases within the judicial system.St. Thomas-St. John District: Fiscal Year 2011 began withthirteen (13) cases that were pending from Fiscal Year 2010.These cases consisted of eight (8) Criminal and five (5)Jury Cases (Fig. 1). During FY11, the Pretrial InterventionProgram received a fiscal year high of thirty (30) referralsfor diversion.FIG. 1: STT/J FY11 - Pending CasesThe thirty (30) referral cases consisted of eleven (11) Juryand nineteen (19) Criminal cases (Fig. 2). Two of the thirtyreferrals, though eligible for participation in the PretrialDiversion Program, were rejected for participation by theAttorney General’s Office (Prosecutor). This was the firsttime that a client – after qualifying – was denied participationby an Assistant Attorney General and not the judge.46