In In re Wild, No. 19-13843 (Ap. 14, 2020) (Newsom,
Tjoflat, Hull), the Court denied a petition for mandamus brought by victims of
Jeffrey Epstein.
The Court held, reluctantly, that the rights of victims
under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act of 2004, including the right to confer with
prosecutors and be treated fairly, do not attach until federal criminal
proceedings are initiated. Here, there
was no federal criminal proceeding brought.
So, despite evidence of a secret non-prosecution agreement between the
government and Epstein, the victims’ statutory rights were never triggered. The majority “sincerely regrets” this outcome
but thinks it is compelled by the statute Congress wrote.
Judge Tjoflat concurred in full, but wrote separately to explain
that allowing victims to sue prosecutors to enforce a right to confer
pre-charge would require courts to interfere with the executive’s investigation
and prosecution of crimes, and that would raise serious separation of powers
problems.
Judge Hull authored a lengthy dissent, opining that the
statute confers rights on victims before charges are brought. She criticized the majority for effectively
deprived the victims of any rights at all for the government’s egregious violations
in this case. She and the majority
criticized each other for their rhetoric.
