NAVRA presents a free teleconference training, exclusively for NAVRA members:

Quashing Subpoenas in Criminal Proceedings:
Enforcing a Victim’s Right to Privacy

Registration for this teleconference has now closed. If you have registered and not yet received call-in instructions, or if you have general questions about the teleconference, please email navra@lclark.edu, or call 503-768-6819.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE
In an attempt to access private and often confidential victim information in criminal proceedings, defendants are routinely serving subpoenas and other discovery requests on victims, their families, and third parties. The private and sensitive victim information sought often includes medical and counseling records, juvenile records, diaries, e-mails, and educational records. Teleconference presenters NCVLI Executive Director Meg Garvin and NCVLI attorney Alison Wilkinson, along with Heidi Nestel, Executive Director of Utah Crime Victims Legal Clinic, will discuss the defense strategy of using pretrial discovery to obtain victim information and will offer concrete enforcement and practice pointers on how to quash these discovery requests. The presenters will also discuss potential remedies when third parties turn over private information without notice to the victim. Please see additional information about each presenter below.

Additional Information on the Presenters

Heidi Nestel, J.D. currently serves as Executive Director and Staff Attorney for the Utah Crime Victims Legal Clinic, providing free legal representation to victims of crimes as they go through the criminal justice system. Previous to her current employment, Ms. Nestel served as a prosecutor for the Davis County Attorney’s Office as well as the Victim Service Director for that Office. In her eight years working for Davis County, she specialized in prosecuting violent crimes against women including domestic violence assault, violation of protective orders, and rape and sexual assaults. Ms. Nestel also prosecuted in the juvenile court system and found making a difference for both victims of juvenile crime and the delinquents themselves very rewarding. Ms. Nestel received an Honors B.A., summa cum laude, in 1991, from the University of Utah in Political Science. In 1991, Heidi received a Harry S. Truman Scholarship based on her dedication to working with juveniles and minor victims in the public sector. Ms. Nestel went on to pursue an M.A. and also received her J.D. from the University of Utah. During and after law school, Ms. Nestel worked for the Office of the Guardian ad Litem, representing abused and neglected children in court. Through this experience, Ms. Nestel was trained on the dynamics of violence and became dedicated to helping vulnerable victims of crime. Ms. Nestel has a passion and commitment to working with victims of crime and is dedicated to helping victims have a meaningful voice in the criminal justice system.

Meg Garvin, M.A., J.D. currently serves as the Executive Director for the National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI). She leads NCVLI's impact litigation, and provides legal technical assistance to attorneys representing crime victims nationwide. Ms. Garvin has presented on victims' rights at over 50 conferences nationwide; she regularly participates in national forums to develop policy on victims' rights, and has testified before Congress and the Oregon Legislature on the current state of victim law. She is currently serving as co-chair of the American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section Victims Committee and has been appointed by the Oregon Attorney General to Oregon's Sexual Assault Task Force. Prior to joining NCVLI, Ms. Garvin clerked for the Honorable Donald P. Lay of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, after which she practiced law in a private firm in Minneapolis, Minnesota, focusing on appellate litigation, complex business litigation, and employment law. She has a B.A. from the University of Puget Sound, an M.A. in Communication Studies with an emphasis in rhetorical theory from the University of Iowa, and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota.

Alison Wilkinson, J.D. is an attorney at NCVLI and clinical faculty at Lewis & Clark Law School, where she co-teaches a clinic on victim’s rights. She supervises the administration of NCVLI’s grant with the Office of Violence against Women, including by collaborating with other organizations, planning training sessions, and fielding legal technical assistance requests. Ms. Wilkinson has worked on a broad range of technical assistance requests at NCVLI, including drafting amicus briefs, and performing research and drafting memos on issues relating to sexual assault, domestic violence, and privacy, among other topics. She has presented at both local and national conferences on victims’ rights. She has also been appointed by the Oregon Attorney General to Oregon's Sexual Assault Task Force. Prior to joining NCVLI, Ms. Wilkinson worked as a litigation associate at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe in New York City. Alison has a B.A. in English from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.

The training is supported by Grant No. 2008-DD-BX-K001, awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view in the presentation and any accompanying documents are those of the presenters and authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.