Knowing A Perpetrator's Address

[jordanlenape]

Hello, I was a victim of bias intimidation on a college campus in New Jersey!!! I, and several other witnesses, immediately went to the college's public safety department to make a complaint and based on the physical description of the person given by me and other witnesses, the person was apprehended by public safety. When he was apprehended, a public safety officer went into the room I was sitting in and presented his student ID (which only contains the college logo, a student's picture, and a students name), and I said "that was him". It turned out to be a positive ID, as he admitted to uttering those words but gave a really poor excuse that witnesses could have easily poked holes in. At my request, public safety notified the local police department who collected the statements for the report. I returned a week later to sign the complaint (as I lived far away and I could not sign it that night). A week after that, I receive a CC of the notice of indictment against the person through the mail.

I then noticed that the address was botched, thus possibly delaying the service of justice. It stated his hometown with the zipcode of the college's town (he lives 45 minutes from the college) and that it had a non-existent streetname. I brought this to the attention of the court administrator (it just jumped out at me) and she stated it was my responsibility to give the correct address to the police.

I did NOT give that address or any address to the police, nor did I know anything about the perpetrator beforehand. This is like telling a victim of rape by stranger that they have to know the home address of the perp to indict them. I'd figure a victim need only give enough descriptors to locate the person and make a positive ID, the rest would be policework.

Was I the victim of a wrong here?

 

[CdwJava]

Let the police know about the incorrect address. See what they have to say.

The "wrong" you are a victim of is whatever the defendant did to you (and I am unsure what "bias intimidation" is), not any clerical error of the defendant's address. It could be that the defendant provided a bogus address and no one confirmed it at the police station.