Kerstie's Law Proposed Legislation
Mandatory Comprehensive Investigations
Mandatory Comprehensive Investigations
Mandatory Comprehensive Investigations
This proposed bill mandates that in any case where a deceased individual has a known or suspected history of domestic violence victimization, law enforcement must conduct a comprehensive and thorough investigation before classifying the death as a suicide, accidental, or undetermined. The goal is to ensure that potential homicides are not overlooked or misclassified due to a history of abuse.
The required investigative actions include:
- Reviewing all available police reports, protective orders, prior medical records, and documented histories of abuse;
- Conducting in-depth interviews with family members, close friends, and individuals familiar with the victim’s relationship history;
- Gathering, preserving, and analyzing physical and digital evidence that could suggest foul play or that a scene was staged to appear as a suicide or accident.
Additionally, the bill proposes lifting jurisdictional barriers to be able to provide further assistance in investigating if requested by the victim’s family. This ensures that families have access to deeper investigative resources when concerns about the initial findings arise, promoting greater accountability, transparency, and justice in death classifications involving domestic violence victims.
Mandatory Autopsy Requirement
Mandatory Comprehensive Investigations
Mandatory Comprehensive Investigations
Require coroners or medical examiners to perform complete autopsies in cases involving known or suspected domestic violence victims. The following ten-point checklist must be considered:
- The decedent died prematurely or in an untimely manner.
- The scene of the death gives the appearance of death due to suicide or accident.
- One partner wanted to end the relationship.
- There is a history of being victimized by domestic violence that includes coercive control.
- The decedent is found dead in a home or place of residence.
- The decedent is found by a current or previous partner.
- There is a history of being victimized by domestic violence that includes strangulation or suffocation.
- The current or previous partner of the decedent, or child of the decedent or the decedent’s current or previous partner, is the last to see the decedent alive.
- The partner had control of the scene before law enforcement arrived.
- The body of the decedent has been moved or the scene or other evidence is altered in some way.
Medical Examiners must carefully document all injuries, including subtle signs of strangulation, blunt force trauma, and defensive wounds, to ensure potential evidence of violence is not overlooked during the investigation.
Specialized Law Enforcement Training
Mandatory Comprehensive Investigations
Specialized Law Enforcement Training
Mandate annual training for law enforcement
officers, coroners, and investigators on:
- Identifying signs of intimate partner homicide;
- Recognizing staged crime scenes;
- Properly documenting and investigating suspicious deaths tied to domestic violence.
Reporting and Oversight
Community and Victim Family Support
Specialized Law Enforcement Training
- Develop an Alaska Domestic Violence Prevention Commission or a designated oversight body to review all domestic violence-related deaths classified as suicide, accidental and undetermined deaths annually.
- Submit a yearly report to the legislature, identifying trends, disparities, and needed reforms.
Community and Victim Family Support
Community and Victim Family Support
Community and Victim Family Support
- Ensure that victims' families are informed of their right to request a review of the investigation if domestic violence history is present.
- Provide access to victim advocacy services during death investigations.