Gov. Schwarzenegger Announces 2008 Crime Victim Advocacy Awardees

JOHN WALSH: Hello, everybody, and thank you all for coming today on this beautiful, wonderful day here in Sacramento. I'm John Walsh; many of you may know me as the host of America's Most Wanted on the Fox Network. We've been on for, I think this is our 21st year. And we're close to catching 1,000 criminals -- we're at 909, I think.

But I think a lot of people in this room know me as the father of Adam. Twenty-seven years ago I was a hotel builder and my six-year-old son Adam, our first child, was abducted and murdered by a serial predator pedophile. That changed my life forever. So that's how I got into the television business.

And one of the main reasons I'm here today to have the honor of introducing your Governor and my friend, Arnold Schwarzenegger. I was coming here anyway; we're doing a special show that will air, not this Saturday but the Saturday after, to do two things:

Hopefully, catch the NorCal rapist. This horrible coward -- I see many of you nodding your heads -- has raped 11 women here in the last 15 years and has been able to evade law enforcement.
And to hopefully solve the brutal murder of a father and his seven-month-old son last year, where he was the victim of a home invasion and he was murdered in the house and the two horrible, cold-blooded, whatever they are, walked out in the driveway, and on their way out shot this seven-month-old boy in his car seat. And hopefully, with the Governor's help, we'll be able to solve that.

And I wanted to thank the Governor for having his event today -- this is just beautiful -- to acknowledge the crime victims here in the state of California. People know the governor as an action hero, I know him as a man of action, and he certainly is that. He's worked consistently over the years to protect crime victims and to give them a louder voice in the criminal justice system. He's an outspoken advocate of Three Strikes; he's worked on a lot of legislation to protect children from sexual predators.

In 2006 he did a wonderful thing -- and I wish every state had one of these offices -- but he created the first ever position of crime victim advocate for the state of Florida, and he appointed this wonderful woman right -- I'm sorry, California. You can tell I'm a Floridian. Sorry, Governor. That was a Freudian slip. But for the state of California, and he appointed this wonderful woman; I'm going to introduce her later.

But I think one of the things I'm the most proud of that Governor Schwarzenegger has been able to accomplish is Proposition 69, the collection, mandatory collection of DNA. I know he worked so hard on it in 2004; he went all over the state; I did some satellite press conferences with him. And DNA is the fingerprint of the 21st century. California has now collected over a million DNA samples. They will now be one of the first states to collect the DNA of all felons that have been arrested. The DNA collection here in the state of California solves about 175 cases a month, 4 to 5 cases a day.

In the state next door we're trying to solve the Brianna Dennison case, a 19-year-old girl that was murdered, a college student there. Four other girls were raped. And when we got involved in this case the city of Reno realized that they had over 3,000 rape kits that hadn't been tested, that they didn't have a DNA database. And the citizens of Reno were so outraged, people like you, that they raised $100,000 and 30 rape cases were solved just by those rape kits being tested.

But what kind of message does that send to our wives and our girlfriends and our daughters and our mothers and our children, that we don't value them enough in society to take the DNA of people that would prey upon them, and we don't have enough money to test those cases?

Well, the state of California is one of my shining examples of a state that does care about its children, cares about its women, cares about its most vulnerable. Proposition 69 will kick in next January, where the DNA will be taken of all felony arrests and will solve thousands of unsolved cases. And the guy that was the biggest proponent of that, the champion of that, is my friend Governor Schwarzenegger. Thank you. (Applause)

GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER: Thank you very much, John, for your nice introduction and also for agreeing to be part of this great ceremony here today, and also for doing such an outstanding job with your show, America's Most Wanted. And you are out here to do an interview with me today for your program; we will talk about the DNA and about Proposition 69. And so it's great to have you out here, so thank you very much for your great leadership in this area. Let's give him a big hand again. (Applause)

Also, I want to thank Susan Fisher for her great leadership and for being such a great liaison. And she has done an outstanding job and I love the passion that she has. And also, many times when we have debates about certain issues, how she corrects me and moves in there. "No, Governor, you can't do that because we need this and that," and all of those kinds of things. So it's great to have someone by my side that is straightforward and is keeping us all in line. So, thank you very much for your great work. (Applause)

Then I would also like to point out -- there are a lot of people that I should point out, but there is one other person I want to point out -- and that is Secretary Tilton. I think Jim Tilton has done an extraordinary job over this last two years since he has taken over our correction system. He has shown great leadership and he had a tough, tough challenge and he has fought through it. And he is a hands-on guy with a great, great vision and everything, so it's really wonderful. And I want to thank you also for the great work that you have done this last two years, so a big hand for him also. (Applause)

Now, I'm deeply honored to be here today to present the Governor's Crime Victim Advocacy Awards. This year is the 26th anniversary of the Crime Victims' Bill of Rights in our state, and all Californians can take great pride in the contributions of the people that we have in here in this room. The twelve recipients are carrying forward our outstanding legacy of supporting our crime victims and I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. I have always said that public safety is our number one priority and that victim rights are an important part of that. That's why we have protected the Three Strikes and cracked down on gang violence and supported Jessica's Law and supported Proposition 69 to build a database, a DNA database.

We all also know at the same time that the pain and the other terrible affects of crime do not end with convictions or sentences. Lives must be rebuilt, innocent people must heal and the sense of safety and hope that all Californians deserve has to be restored. I have been told by victims that you come to a point where you hit rock bottom. You feel like you're going to break down from overwhelming anger and sadness, or you can turn that emotion into something very positive.

Today's recipients have helped crime victims to do exactly that, and they represent the very best that California has to offer. Their stories are very inspirational. They have stood side by side with victims and their loved ones during their time of greatest need. They have sought justice and they have protected the innocent. I commend each of them for standing up and for making such a difference and for showing such great leadership and dedication for their fellow Californians.

But today, before we present the awards, I want to talk about something else that is extremely important to all of us and that is Assembly Bill 1043. Assembly Bill 1043 is something that I support full-heartedly. It is Assemblyman Spitzer and Assemblywoman Ma. The bill will create a permanent memorial for crime victims here at the Capitol. And we will be working with victims' groups every step of the way as we create this memorial, because it's about time that our crime victims have a memorial right out here. (Applause)

So with that I want to say thank you very much. And now let's go and create some action and hand out those medals to the various different people. Susan Fisher, please come over here and take over. (Laughter)

SUSAN FISHER: All right. The first recipient of the award today is Marilyn Baldwin, who is with the Riverside District Attorney's Office in the Victim Witness Office, and she is receiving the award today for outstanding service to crime victims. (Applause) Marilyn was a little late; she missed the instructions. (Laughter)

Our next recipient is Marie Belmontez. She is with Parents of Murdered Children, and she is receiving the award today for outstanding service to crime victims. Marie? (Applause)

Kam Lopez with the Center for the Pacific Asian Family, for outstanding service to crime victims. (Applause)

Kimberly Peterson, formerly with the Sund-Carrington Foundation -- and currently we're lucky to have her working with us at the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation -- for outstanding service to crime victims. (Applause)

Matt Mullin, the associate warden at Susanville, for outstanding service to crime victims. (Applause)

Melissa Donaldson with Safe Alternatives for Everyone, for outstanding service to crime victims. (Applause)

Riverside District Attorney Rod Pacheco and his entire operation are acknowledged in this award for outstanding service to crime victims. (Applause)

We have a posthumous award today and it goes to Mia Baker for outstanding service to crime victims. And her son is here to receive it. Mr. Baker? (Applause)

Collene Campbell, the woman I want to be when I grow up, with Memory of Victims Everywhere, for outstanding leadership in advancing victims' rights. (Applause)

Suzanne Brown-McBride with CalCASA for outstanding leadership in advancing victims' rights. (Applause)

And finally, Christine Ward, with the Crime Victims' Action Alliance and also with the I Can Foundation, for outstanding leadership in advancing victims' rights. (Applause)

Mr. Walsh?

JOHN WALSH: Well, I just want to say to everybody, thank you again for coming. Some of these victims I know. Kim Peterson has done a great job over the years. And Collene Campbell is a perfect example of justice delayed but not justice denied. Nineteen years she's been trying to -- and I've worked with her on America's Most Wanted -- nineteen years to find the guys to find the guys who murdered her beautiful brother and his wife and to get justice. And that guy is sitting right where he belongs, in jail. But she's the perfect example of never giving up.

And a lot of victims don't have a lot of voice. Many of them are children, many of them are women, some of them are men like myself, but they don't have a lot of voice. But it was wonderful for the governor to appoint Susan to this office. She's sending a great message throughout the country, to other governors, that victims should have a place in the state capitol and they should have a voice. And by honoring these victims, the people that work with them and the criminal justice system and the people that run these programs, you have set a terrific example today and given us some peace for our past. And I want to thank you for having this day, to take the time to have this day. God bless all of you that are victims here, and for all of you for coming today. Thank you, Governor.

GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER: Thank you. Let's give a big hand again for John Walsh and Susan Fisher and all of our great recipients here. (Applause)