Montana voters will have the chance to adopt a constitutional bill of rights for crime victims through ballot initiative 116 known as Marsy’s Law.

The initiative is backed by Marsy’s Law for Montana, a group funded by Henry Nicholas, a California tech billionaire who helped pass a similar California initiative in 2008 in honor of his sister Marsalee (Marsy) Nicholas. Marsy Nicholas was a University of California Santa Barbara student in 1983 when her ex-boyfriend stalked and murdered her. A week after Marsy died her accused murderer ran into Henry Nicholas and his mother at the grocery store. They had no idea he had been released on bail.

Since that time Nicholas has been helping bankroll and promote constitutional rights for crime victims in multiple states, including Montana. Thirty-two states currently have constitutional protections for the rights of crime victims.

“A lot of victims just feel blindsided by the system,” said Chuck Denowh, Marsy’s Law For Montana State Director.

Denowh said most prosecutors do keep crime victims informed in cases in Montana right now, but that sometimes people fall through the cracks.

“Right now, prosecutors usually do confer with the victim in the case,” Denowh said. “They let them know what’s happening, but not always. Sometimes, especially with plea deals, they move very quickly.”

In the case of plea deals, sometimes victims go to bed thinking their accuser is facing a felony charge, but wake up the next morning to find out that a plea bargain reduced the charge to a misdemeanor and that the violator is now out walking the streets, Denowh said.

There are 18 constitutional rights included in the bill, some of which include:

• Right to have a victim’s welfare considered when setting bail and making release decisions.

• Right to prevent the disclosure of victim information that could be used to harass the victim.

• Right to refuse an interview or deposition and to set reasonable conditions of interaction between the victim and the accused.

• Right to receive notice, be present, and be heard at certain proceedings.

• Right to be notified of the accused’s release or escape.

DENOWH SAID he does not believe the law would be a huge change for the entire system, since most prosecutors already involve victims in decision-making.

“From a system-wide standpoint, it’s not a major change. But from an individual standpoint, if you are the victim of a crime, it really is,” Denowh said.

Denowh said he does not think the notification requirements will cause too many extra costs to the criminal justice system, and pointed out that it still leaves the fate of the defendant ultimately up to the prosecutor and court.

“It doesn’t give the victim a veto card,” Denowh said.

However, Lake County Chief Deputy Attorney James Lapotka does have concerns about how the proposed initiative could impact prosecution in Montana.

One of the biggest issues he sees in the law is that it establishes a victim’s right to refuse an interview or deposition in a case. Lapotka thinks that will likely conflict with rights set forth in the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which allows defendants to confront his or her accuser.

Additionally, sometimes, especially in the case of domestic abuse, victims might back track on wanting to pursue a case because dynamics in the cycle of abuse have changed, Lapotka said. That does not mean that the accused did not commit a crime and should not face prosecution.

“It’s going to negatively impact our ability to prosecute,” Lapotka said. “Victim’s don’t press charges against defendants. The state of Montana does.”

Lapotka said most of the provisions in Marsy’s Law are already in place for felony cases or cases of domestic abuse. Marsy’s Law would expand the requirement for victim notification to include all crimes in Montana, including misdemeanors.

“For every fender bender, the county attorney’s office is now going to be in charge of tracking down victims,” Lapotka said.

Most Montana prosecutors’ offices don’t have staffing to provide a crime victim advocate, much less the resources to track down that many people, Lapotka noted.

Lapotka also said that many times victims might not have a working phone number, address or email in order for his office to stay in touch. Currently, the office always makes an effort, but many times, victims do not want to participate.

“A lot of times I speak with victims who don’t really want to be bothered with us and would just as soon not participate,” Lapotka said.

Lapotka said he can’t think of one person he has talked to in the criminal system who fully supports the proposed initiative.

“Everybody I know who works in criminal defense has concerns about it,” Lapotka said.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.