district attorney

[jenksswimmer]

Charges were pressed against my fiancee due to an arrest, when i tried to have the charges dropped the DA told me i couldnt drop them because they had taken the case over. Final sentenceing was made and they charged him with jail time saying it was because the charges had not been dropped by me. Im just a little confused, i informed the DA once over the phone and in person that i wanted all charges dropped. What can i do to get this fixed, if there is anything?

 

[CdwJava]

The DA generally has absolute discretion in prosecutions. Since you do not mention that you testified at any trial, I assume he agreed to a plea deal. If he did go to trial, the issue should have been addressed there (assuming there IS an issue).

I know o no state that requires the victim to be on board with a prosecution for it to go forward. And since more than 75% of DV victims recant or decline to assist the prosecution, it is no surprise that the state might take it on anyway.

So, even if someone SNAFU'd and did not allow you to drop the matter, the state - through the DA - has absolute discretion to prosecute. However, you can consult an attorney to see if there is any loophole here, but I would be amazed if there was.

- Carl