Pursuant to 5 V.I. Code Ann. § 4612, which establishes the diversion of selected offenders, participation in the Pretrial Intervention Program is specifically limited to:
- Individuals who have not previously been convicted of a violation of any law of the Virgin Islands or of any other territory or state of the United States in any criminal court proceeding after having reached the age of seventeen (17) years; except for minor traffic violations for which no term of incarceration may have been imposed;
- Individuals who do not have any outstanding warrants, continuances, appeals or criminal cases pending before any courts of the Territory or of any other territory or state of the United States;
- Individuals who receive a commendation from a program of community supervision and services that they would, in light of the capacities of and guidelines governing it, benefit from participation in such a program.
Individuals prohibited from participating in the Pretrial Intervention Program are any persons who have been charged murder, kidnapping, assault in the first or second degree, rape in the first degree and arson in the first degree.
There is a pretrial intervention fee that must be paid by all participants in the amount of Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00).
Yes, with the permission of the Court.
A participant in the Pretrial Intervention Program may leave the jurisdiction, but only by an Order entered by the Court authorizing them to do so.
Pretrial Intervention Officers may be required to testify in court as to their findings and recommendations; to attend court hearings and update the court regarding the offender's compliance with the terms of his or her sentence and on the offender's efforts at rehabilitation. If there is blatant disregard to fulfill the conditions imposed by the Court governing a individual's participation in the program, the Court will be promptly notified and the offender may be remanded back for trial.
No, the entire sentence of pretrial intervention must be served and the conditions met.
Probation is a sentence imposed upon convicted criminal offenders for the commission of a crime. The offender is released into the community by the Court's Order under the supervision of a probation officer in lieu of incarceration. Probation may also be unsupervised. Offenders who fail to satisfactorily comply with the conditions of probation maybe subject to revocation of probation.
Pre-trial intervention is a program that diverts selected individuals from the normal prosecution process in order that they can be rehabilitated and returned to the community as productive citizens with no criminal record. Upon successfully completing the Pretrial Intervention program the pending criminal charges are dismissed. There is no adjudication of guilt.