Prosecutorial Discretion & Victim Intimidation: A Game Theoretic Approach

• In Event: Rational Choice Theories: New Directions and Applications

Abstract

District Attorneys exercise discretion over which cases they prosecute. This discretion can take the form of declining to pursue cases in which the victim does not come forward to cooperate with the police. When this policy becomes formalized and common knowledge among potential criminals and the DA, it provides an incentive for criminals to intimidate their victims, since intimidation is often the reason victims do not cooperate with the police. Given the paucity of data on victim intimidation, I build this argument via a game theoretic model and find that prosecutors can reduce victim intimidation by prosecuting a small percentage of cases in which victims do not cooperate.

Author

• John W. Schiemann, Fairleigh Dickinson University