What is active advocacy?
As the subtitle says, its more than just a warm body in the court room. We advocate for our clients by whatever means necessary to ensure their best chance at justice and protection, within the legal system, as possible. We cannot, and do not, guarantee or promise our clients any specific or particular outcome, but we promise that we will advocate for them and their children as though we were advocating for ourselves and our own children.
Example of our work:
The following are real details of an actual clients situation, shared with their permission and blessing. Details herein are all true while identifying information was redacted or changed in the interest of their safety.
A client who came to us in search of support and services had reported to their local police an attack where their batterer had strangled them to the point of unconsciousness and bladder incontinence, they had video and photographic evidence of the crime which they submitted to the police at the time of the report, and the report was then forwarded to the District Attorneys office for criminal prosecution. The Deputy District Attorney originally assigned to review our clients case rejected it for prosecution without so much as even reviewing the evidence provided by my client, by their own admission.
When our Founder and lead advocate was informed of this she drafted a scathing email and sent it to everyone up he chain of command, in any possible position of authority:
This email grievance resulted in the Department of Justice making contact with the District Attorney’s office, who then reopened our client’s case for investigation, resulting in our client’s batterer being charged with 4 felonies; 2 with great bodily injury enhancement, and held on bail set at $250,000.
Our client’s batterer has since been sentenced and is serving time in prison for his attempt at our client’s life.
The email read as follows:
My name is Nadeya Lavandero. I am a Certified Domestic Violence Advocate (CDVA) contacting you on behalf of a client of mine, with their express permission, to address an issue that is extremely concerning; not just because of how it directly effects my client but the community as a whole. What is especially distressing is that this issue appears to be a standard practice with some in your team of DDA’s as this is not the first time I’ve been made aware of a DDA’s decisions not to pursue criminal charges of a batterer, even in the face of clear evidence that the perpetrator is dangerous and a risk to the victims life and safety. Your office conveys to the public that it cares about, supports, and understands victims of domestic violence but your DDA’s are presenting a completely different position to victims and the public.
I have decided not to include Chief DDA [NAME REDACTED] in this email as he has proven himself to be a part of the problem. On [DATE REDACTED] my client filed a report with the [MUNICIPALITY REDACTED] PD regarding a broken shoulder and laceration to her head that required stitches, injuries that were sustained as a result of domestic violence by her perpetrator. This report was assigned to Chief DDA [NAME REDACTED] who ultimately made the decision not to pursue criminal prosecution. The reason he gave my client for his decision was the statement made by her perpetrator, that my client had tripped and fell and that is how she sustained her injuries, presented reasonable doubt.
At the urging of both myself and my clients legal counsel my client made a report of strangulation committed by her perpetrator, provided information and evidence that included both photographs and a video of herself and her injuries, and the DDA again decided not to pursue criminal prosecution. This time the one responsible for this egregious decision was DDA [NAME REDACTED]. This decision, and DDA [NAME REDACTED] insistence to stand by it, puts my client and her daughter at serious risk of grave bodily injury, or even death. My client was strangled by her perpetrator, which is a clear attempt on her life. At the time of the incident, my client had been strangled to the point of losing consciousness and not knowing her name or where she was when she finally regained consciousness. In her video, that she submitted as evidence, she made the statement that if anything were to happen to her it was her perpetrator who was responsible for her death. Instead of taking appropriate action DDA [NAME REDACTED] has made it his business to disregard the life and safety of my client, which very likely will lead to her death and possibly even the death of her [AGE REDACTED] daughter. The risk to my clients life is a serious one, and not something that should be so recklessly disregarded by anyone in your office, as victims who endure strangulation are 800% - 1000% more likely to be victims of homicide at the hands of their perpetrators.
Your DDA’s violate victims’ rights by making time to contact the perpetrator while completely leaving the victim out of the process, even after a victims repeated attempts to contact the DDA assigned to their case have gone unanswered and blatantly ignored. The reasons given are as simple as “they have a heavy case load,” if they are given any explanation at all. This serves to further embolden perpetrators as your DDA’s gross mishandling of these cases reinforces their distorted belief that they are untouchable. Reinforcing in victims minds that they really don’t have any hope of ever escaping with their lives because the system that is supposedly set up to protect them simply doesn’t care to. DDA’s in your office have made it a common practice to hang on the word of the perpetrator while denying the victim their opportunity and right to have their voice heard. I do not take the behavior of your DDA’s towards victims lightly, and neither should you. Victims of DV die every day because of the negligent way that prosecutors, like the ones in your office, have decided to disregard victims as the alternative to prosecute would require far more work than they really care to do.
This is further made evident by DDA [NAME REDACTED] shallow excuses for not pursuing charges. When my client was finally able to reach DDA [NAME REDACTED], after well over a week of attempting to contact him, he insisted to my client that there is no evidence or history of abuse but when asked if he reviewed the evidence or the report made by my client on [DATE REDACTED] his statement was that he did not. When my client asked why he didn’t review the evidence or the past report he stated that he didn’t have any of what she was asserting. No evidence, no report. My client and I then reached out to Detective [NAME REDACTED] at [MUNICIPALITY REDACTED] PD. She reviewed the report and read to us the part of the report where it stated that evidence was submitted. Detective [NAME REDACTED] went on to say that she doesn’t know why DDA [NAME REDACTED] would say that it wasn’t there because she was “looking right at it.” At our request, Detective [NAME REDACTED] agreed to check the logs to see if any requests for the evidence had been made, per protocol. When she called my client back, my client was informed that no attempts had been made by DDA [NAME REDACTED], or anyone else in your office, to review the evidence. My client followed-up with DDA [NAME REDACTED] where she plead with him to reconsider his decision to reject her case for prosecution, especially upon learning that he never even bothered to look at the evidence she submitted. She expressed to him her fear for her life and the life of her daughter and his response to her was that he would review the evidence at her insistence, but he was not going to change his decision. His decision is worse than negligent, its reckless.
I have thoroughly documented what I believe to be an abuse of prosecutorial discretion by your DDA’s, in order to hold them accountable. I have also made a number of reports to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), Department of Justice (DOJ), Grand Jury, and Bar Association against the offending DDA’s in your office, and I will continue to do so as long as victims and their cases are not handled in a manner that is appropriate to their circumstance or the role that your office plays in protecting victims and the community from dangerous perpetrators. A victim should not have to die or end up sustaining life threatening injuries before the DDAs in your office treat DV cases with the urgency and consideration that they require.
Please, I implore you, don’t allow an opportunity for my clients life to be lost because of your DDA’s refusals to act.
Nadeya Lavandero, CDVA, CHTA, CBIF, CAMS-II, CBPI, CCA
Right to Protect (IRS tax exempt 501c3 organization)
President / Founder / Executive Director
Mailing: 1169 S. Main Street #313, Manteca, CA 95337
Office: (209) 595-8248 Mobile: [NUMBER REDACTED]
Mission: "Provide supportive services and resources to victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, human trafficking, and stalking."
Vision: "Assist those whom we serve with everything from escaping their situations, to living a healthy and productive life thereafter."
A client who came to us in search of support and services had reported to their local police an attack where their batterer had strangled them to the point of unconsciousness and bladder incontinence, they had video and photographic evidence of the crime which they submitted to the police at the time of the report, and the report was then forwarded to the District Attorneys office for criminal prosecution. The Deputy District Attorney originally assigned to review our clients case rejected it for prosecution without so much as even reviewing the evidence provided by my client, by their own admission.
When our Founder and lead advocate was informed of this she drafted a scathing email and sent it to everyone up he chain of command, in any possible position of authority:
- The elected District Attorney for the jurisdictional County over our client’s case.
- 4 of the 5 Chief Deputy District Attorneys under the elected DA (the email cites why the 5th was left out)
- All 5 of the Board of Supervisors for the jurisdictional County over our client’s case.
- The County Counsel for the jurisdictional County over our client’s case.
- Attorney General for California, Rob Bonta
- 1 Assistant Attorney General, under Rob Bonta
- The District Representatives for the State Senator and Assembly-person representing the jurisdictional County over our client’s case.
- The California Department of Justice.
- California Victims Services at the Department of Justice.
- Clients private Family Law Attorney.
This email grievance resulted in the Department of Justice making contact with the District Attorney’s office, who then reopened our client’s case for investigation, resulting in our client’s batterer being charged with 4 felonies; 2 with great bodily injury enhancement, and held on bail set at $250,000.
Our client’s batterer has since been sentenced and is serving time in prison for his attempt at our client’s life.
The email read as follows:
My name is Nadeya Lavandero. I am a Certified Domestic Violence Advocate (CDVA) contacting you on behalf of a client of mine, with their express permission, to address an issue that is extremely concerning; not just because of how it directly effects my client but the community as a whole. What is especially distressing is that this issue appears to be a standard practice with some in your team of DDA’s as this is not the first time I’ve been made aware of a DDA’s decisions not to pursue criminal charges of a batterer, even in the face of clear evidence that the perpetrator is dangerous and a risk to the victims life and safety. Your office conveys to the public that it cares about, supports, and understands victims of domestic violence but your DDA’s are presenting a completely different position to victims and the public.
I have decided not to include Chief DDA [NAME REDACTED] in this email as he has proven himself to be a part of the problem. On [DATE REDACTED] my client filed a report with the [MUNICIPALITY REDACTED] PD regarding a broken shoulder and laceration to her head that required stitches, injuries that were sustained as a result of domestic violence by her perpetrator. This report was assigned to Chief DDA [NAME REDACTED] who ultimately made the decision not to pursue criminal prosecution. The reason he gave my client for his decision was the statement made by her perpetrator, that my client had tripped and fell and that is how she sustained her injuries, presented reasonable doubt.
At the urging of both myself and my clients legal counsel my client made a report of strangulation committed by her perpetrator, provided information and evidence that included both photographs and a video of herself and her injuries, and the DDA again decided not to pursue criminal prosecution. This time the one responsible for this egregious decision was DDA [NAME REDACTED]. This decision, and DDA [NAME REDACTED] insistence to stand by it, puts my client and her daughter at serious risk of grave bodily injury, or even death. My client was strangled by her perpetrator, which is a clear attempt on her life. At the time of the incident, my client had been strangled to the point of losing consciousness and not knowing her name or where she was when she finally regained consciousness. In her video, that she submitted as evidence, she made the statement that if anything were to happen to her it was her perpetrator who was responsible for her death. Instead of taking appropriate action DDA [NAME REDACTED] has made it his business to disregard the life and safety of my client, which very likely will lead to her death and possibly even the death of her [AGE REDACTED] daughter. The risk to my clients life is a serious one, and not something that should be so recklessly disregarded by anyone in your office, as victims who endure strangulation are 800% - 1000% more likely to be victims of homicide at the hands of their perpetrators.
Your DDA’s violate victims’ rights by making time to contact the perpetrator while completely leaving the victim out of the process, even after a victims repeated attempts to contact the DDA assigned to their case have gone unanswered and blatantly ignored. The reasons given are as simple as “they have a heavy case load,” if they are given any explanation at all. This serves to further embolden perpetrators as your DDA’s gross mishandling of these cases reinforces their distorted belief that they are untouchable. Reinforcing in victims minds that they really don’t have any hope of ever escaping with their lives because the system that is supposedly set up to protect them simply doesn’t care to. DDA’s in your office have made it a common practice to hang on the word of the perpetrator while denying the victim their opportunity and right to have their voice heard. I do not take the behavior of your DDA’s towards victims lightly, and neither should you. Victims of DV die every day because of the negligent way that prosecutors, like the ones in your office, have decided to disregard victims as the alternative to prosecute would require far more work than they really care to do.
This is further made evident by DDA [NAME REDACTED] shallow excuses for not pursuing charges. When my client was finally able to reach DDA [NAME REDACTED], after well over a week of attempting to contact him, he insisted to my client that there is no evidence or history of abuse but when asked if he reviewed the evidence or the report made by my client on [DATE REDACTED] his statement was that he did not. When my client asked why he didn’t review the evidence or the past report he stated that he didn’t have any of what she was asserting. No evidence, no report. My client and I then reached out to Detective [NAME REDACTED] at [MUNICIPALITY REDACTED] PD. She reviewed the report and read to us the part of the report where it stated that evidence was submitted. Detective [NAME REDACTED] went on to say that she doesn’t know why DDA [NAME REDACTED] would say that it wasn’t there because she was “looking right at it.” At our request, Detective [NAME REDACTED] agreed to check the logs to see if any requests for the evidence had been made, per protocol. When she called my client back, my client was informed that no attempts had been made by DDA [NAME REDACTED], or anyone else in your office, to review the evidence. My client followed-up with DDA [NAME REDACTED] where she plead with him to reconsider his decision to reject her case for prosecution, especially upon learning that he never even bothered to look at the evidence she submitted. She expressed to him her fear for her life and the life of her daughter and his response to her was that he would review the evidence at her insistence, but he was not going to change his decision. His decision is worse than negligent, its reckless.
I have thoroughly documented what I believe to be an abuse of prosecutorial discretion by your DDA’s, in order to hold them accountable. I have also made a number of reports to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), Department of Justice (DOJ), Grand Jury, and Bar Association against the offending DDA’s in your office, and I will continue to do so as long as victims and their cases are not handled in a manner that is appropriate to their circumstance or the role that your office plays in protecting victims and the community from dangerous perpetrators. A victim should not have to die or end up sustaining life threatening injuries before the DDAs in your office treat DV cases with the urgency and consideration that they require.
Please, I implore you, don’t allow an opportunity for my clients life to be lost because of your DDA’s refusals to act.
Nadeya Lavandero, CDVA, CHTA, CBIF, CAMS-II, CBPI, CCA
Right to Protect (IRS tax exempt 501c3 organization)
President / Founder / Executive Director
Mailing: 1169 S. Main Street #313, Manteca, CA 95337
Office: (209) 595-8248 Mobile: [NUMBER REDACTED]
Mission: "Provide supportive services and resources to victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, human trafficking, and stalking."
Vision: "Assist those whom we serve with everything from escaping their situations, to living a healthy and productive life thereafter."
