Lawyers and judges, social workers and parents, almost everyone loved the El Paso PPIR program. So, what was it and why was it suddenly terminated?
For those who don’t know, PPIR stands for Pre Plea Investigation Report. The purpose of this report is to determine if a defendant is a habitual abuser. The reports serve as a mechanism for the District Attorney to amend, or sometimes outright dismiss low-level domestic violence charges. I know that might sound like a bad thing, but it isn’t, here’s why:
A habitual domestic abuser must be knowingly trying to intimidate or control a domestic relationship. Police are typically not trained to recognize this nuance, and even if they were, it wouldn’t matter. Under § 18-6-803.6, C.R.S., law enforcement must arrest someone if they have probable cause to believe a domestic violence offense occurred. It doesn’t matter if the other party does not want their partner arrested or there is a complete lack of physical evidence.
That’s where the PPIR comes in.
In most cases, the defendant would request an evaluation, and the alleged victim must agree beforehand. This gives the AV a chance to deny a request, although it ultimately up to the discretion of the judge.
Once granted, a specialized psychologist will interview the involved parties. It should be noted that these professionals administering the PPIRs are trained to recognize abusive behaviors, even when someone is trying to hide them.
After interviewing the parties involved, the evaluator prepares a report detailing the incident and provides a conclusion regarding the alleged offense. For example, the evaluator may determine that the event was not related to domestic violence, that it was an isolated act of situational violence, or that it was indicative of a battery situation.
Based on these findings, the district attorney’s office may: 1) dismiss the charges entirely. 2) use the findings to propose a plea agreement without the domestic violence aggravator. 3) decide to move forward with the charges as originally filed.
Why is the program important to a healthy justice system?
There are several reasons this program was so popular within the Defense Law Community and District Attorney’s, alike. First, people who are wrongly brought up on life altering charges (a DV conviction will ruin a military career and permanently affect your 2nd amendment rights) have a relatively quick and inexpensive ($100 – $300, not including other legal fees) mechanism to clear their name and move on with their lives. And secondly, NOT having a mechanism to quickly clear up these type of charges means that significantly more cases, many of which would have gone away in a matter of weeks to a month or so, will end up going to trial, bogging down the legal system, delaying cases of merit, ultimately making it harder for victims of actual domestic violence to get justice.
What is the future of the PPIR program?
The answer to that question remains unclear. The abrupt suspension of the program also means a number of legal and mental health professionals are suddenly facing unemployment. Hopefully, this was a minor procedural hiccup and the PPIR program will be up and running again soon.
Sources:
https://dahlfischer.com/ppir-domestic-violence-cases-colorado-springs
