Tribe: Mashantucket Pequot Indian Tribe
Guideline 1. Eligibility
Eligibility for PTI is broad enough to include all defendants who demonstrate
sufficient effort to effect necessary behavioral change and show that future
criminal behavior will not occur. Any defendant accused of an offense shall be eligible for admission into a PTI program. When the application indicates
factors which would ordinarily lead to exclusion under the guidelines
established hereinafter, the applicant nevertheless shall have the opportunity
to present to the program director and through him to the prosecutor, any facts
or materials demonstrating his amenability to the rehabilitative process,
showing compelling reasons justifying his admission, and establishing that a
decision against enrollment would be arbitrary and unreasonable. […] Guideline 2. Application Criteria
a. In evaluating a defendant’s application for participation in the PTI
program, consideration shall be given to the criteria set forth below:
(1) the nature of the offense;
(2) the facts of the case;
(3) the motivation and age of the defendant;
(4) the desire of the complainant or victim to forego prosecution;
(5) the existence of personal problems and character traits which may be
related to the applicant’s crime and for which services are unavailable within
the criminal justice system, or which may be provided more effectively through
supervisory treatment and the probability that the causes of criminal behavior
can be controlled by proper treatment;
(6) the likelihood that the applicant’s crime is related to a condition or
situation that would be conducive to a change through his participation in
supervisory treatment;
(7) the needs and interests of the victim, Tribe and society;
(8) the extent to which the applicant’s crime constitutes part of a continuing
pattern of anti-social behavior;
(9) the applicant’s records of criminal and penal violations and the extent to
which he may present a substantial danger to others;
(10) whether or not the crime is of an assaultive or violent nature, whether in
the criminal act itself or in the possible injurious consequences of such
behavior;
(11) consideration of whether or not prosecution would exacerbate the social
problem that led to the applicant’s criminal act;
(12) the history of the use of physical violence toward others;
(13) whether or not the crime is of such nature that the value of supervisory
treatment would be outweighed by the Tribe’s need for prosecution; (14) whether or not the applicant’s involvement with other people in the crime
charged or in other crime is such that the interest of the Tribe would be best
served by processing his case through traditional criminal justice system
procedures;
(15) whether or not applicant’s participant in PTI will adversely affect the
prosecution of a co-defendant; and
(16) whether or not the harm done to society by abandoning criminal prosecution
would outweigh the benefits to society from channeling an offender into a
supervisory treatment program.
b. In addition, the following shall be considered together thereto, with other
relevant circumstances:
(1) Age—PTI is designed to deal only with adult defendants who, in accordance
with tribal law, are those persons above the age of 18;
(2) Residence—The Mashantucket Pequot PTI program is designed to deal with the
problem of crime in tribal lands;
(3) Jurisdiction—Only defendants charged with criminal offenses in the
Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Criminal Court may be enrolled in the PTI program;
(4) Minor Violations—Defendants should not be eligible for enrollment if the
likely disposition would result in a suspended sentence without probation or a
fine. Those charged with animal control law, health code, motor vehicle and
other similar violations are not eligible;
(5) Prior Record of Conviction—While the PTI program is not limited to “first
offenders”, defendants who have been previously convicted of a criminal offense
should ordinarily be excluded. Such defendants who have at any prior time been
convicted of a violent crime or who irrespective of the type of the crime have
completed a term of probation, incarceration or parole within five years prior
to the date of application for diversion shall ordinarily not be considered for
enrollment in PTI except on joint application by the defendant and the
prosecutor. Defendants charged with more than one offense may be considered
for enrollment;
(6) Parolees and Probationers—Defendants who at the time of arrest, are
probationers or parolees, should be considered for enrollment only after
consultation with the probation officer, and only after they have agreed that
revocation of probation or parole need not be recommended or after the tribal
court has made the decision not to revoke probation or parole;
(7) Defendants Previously Diverted—Supervisory treatment may occur only once
with respect to any defendant who has previously been enrolled in a program of
PTI.
All applications for enrollment in the PTI program must proceed in
accordance with the PTI Law and the rules of the tribal court, and these
guidelines after reference to the PTI registry established pursuant to the Law.
No order to expunge or seal records of arrest after dismissal of a complaint
shall bar the retention of material and information in the PTI registry for the
purposes of determining a defendant’s prior applications to, enrollments in, and the degree of completion of a PTI program or for statistical reports.
(8) Assessment of the Nature of the Offense—Any defendant charged with an
offense not deemed minor is eligible for enrollment in a PTI program, but the
nature of the offense is a factor to be considered in reviewing the
application. If the crime was:
(a) part of organized criminal activity; or
(b) part of a continuing criminal business or enterprise; or
(c) deliberately committed with violence or threat of violence against another
person; or
(d) a breach of the tribal or public trust where admission to a PTI program
would depreciate the seriousness of a defendant’s crime, the defendant’s
application should generally be rejected;
(9) Co-Defendants—The impact of diversion on the prosecution of co-defendants
is a factor to be considered;
(10) Restitution and Community Service—A restitution or community service
requirement, or both, may be included as part of an individual’s service plan
when such a requirement promises to aid the rehabilitation of the offender.
Any such requirement and its terms shall be judicially determined at the time
of enrollment following recommendation by the program director and/or tribal
PTI Commission, and with consent by the prosecutor.
Evidence of the
restitution condition is not admissible against a defendant in any subsequent
civil or criminal proceeding. Admission to the program shall not be denied
solely on the basis of anticipated inability to meet a restitution requirement.
Where appropriate to further rehabilitation, a symbolic or partial restitution
requirement may be included in the service.