County creates domestic battery court

MUNCIE, Ind. – Domestic violence will be a focus of attention in downtown Muncie this week.

The Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council’s annual seminar on “domestic violence trial advocacy” will be held Tuesday through Thursday at the Horizon Convention Center and the adjacent Courtyard Marriott.

“We try to teach fairly new attorneys, investigators and victim advocates new skills on the best practices on domestic violence,” said Delaware County Prosecutor Jeffrey Arnold, who will serve as a mentor in the training sessions. “I’m proud that Muncie was chosen for this (event).”

In recent months, Arnold added three new employees to his staff – a deputy prosecutor, an investigator and a victim advocate – to exclusively deal with domestic violence cases.

Funding for the effort came largely through a $75,000 federal grant, with county government also providing about $60,000.

Even more recently, a domestic violence court in Delaware County was established after winning the approval of the Indiana Supreme Court.

All felony domestic battery cases will now be filed in Delaware Circuit Court 1, although Judge Marianne Vorhees will continue to preside over other types of criminal cases.

The judge “volunteered to create a domestic violence court and took it over,” Arnold said. “It’s just a blessing to have one court. Because then you have a lot of expertise in one judge, you’ve got consistency and you don’t have to bounce around every day to different courts.”

Arnold’s new deputy prosecutor assigned to the domestic violence unit is Maricel Skiles, formerly a deputy in the state attorney general’s office.

“The court’s been going well,” Skiles said, adding that Vorhees was “doing everything she to expedite (cases) and keep them moving so we keep that relationship with the victim... (and) get to justice as quickly as we possible can.”

Arnold’s bid to improve local efforts to battle domestic violence began a few years ago when then-Police Chief Steve Stewart agreed to create a domestic violence unit within his own department.

“I really believe this is the only way to make an impact on domestic violence,” Arnold said. “You’ve got to have specialized units, you’ve got to offer victims assistance quickly, you’ve got to get them trusting the system.

“And you’ve got to get them to trial quickly. Once you do all that, it starts to have an impact.”

Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. Follow him on Twitter: @DouglasWalkerSP.