Criminal Trials, Hearings Please..need help..by tomorrow!

[sammybear]

Hi there..I need help regarding an arson case. My boyfriend was arrested for arson..He put a road flare by my garage and it burnt a small amount. He also was sighted playing with them around my complex...He was highly inebriated and we were in a fight...Not trying to make excuses for him..but he is not normally violent. Anyways...I have a subpoena to come in and give my testimony...I honestly don't want anything to do with this,..can I drop the charges? Can I retract my statement? What will happen if I can't/dont show? I do have work and cant get out of it. He also has witnesses that saw him playing with the flares but not actually setting it next to my garage. I didn't see him do it. I just dont want him to go to jail for 8 years which is what was threatened to him..I think he needs phychiatric help for his alcohol abuse and/or anger problems...jail will only destroy his life. Anyways..any help that you can offer will be very helpful..Trial is in two days!! Thanks so much

 

[CdwJava]

I have a subpoena to come in and give my testimony...I honestly don't want anything to do with this,..can I drop the charges? Can I retract my statement? What will happen if I can't/dont show?

Dropping charges ... no. That's up to the state's attorney. And arson is a very dangerous offense and can cause injury and damage to neighbors and firefighters so the state rarely backs off on these.

Retract statement ... no. Once it's there it's there. You can go back and give a new one, but be prepared to be prosecuted for making a false report to the police.

Not showing ... You can go to jail. It's that simple - if you don't show, be ready to go to jail and then brought in to testify in jail garb.

I do have work and cant get out of it.

Then you might expect to get arrested at work. Been there, done that. It's a lot more embarrassing to make the cops come and hook you up at your place of work then it is to show them the subpoena.

A subpoena is NOT a polite request, it is an ORDER from the court! YOU don't have a choice. And your employer really has no choice, either.

I just dont want him to go to jail for 8 years which is what was threatened to him.

Ultimately that is NOT your call. You are required only to testify truthfully.

I think he needs phychiatric help for his alcohol abuse and/or anger problems...jail will only destroy his life. Anyways..any help that you can offer will be very helpful..Trial is in two days!! Thanks so much

His attorney can address these issues - they are not your concern.

Very often treatment for alcohol abuse or mental illness comes at the end of a sword (the court) rather than a voluntary commitment. Lighting a garage on fire is a terrifying event. If you have never seen a person or people burned alive when just "fooling around", maybe you need to take a stroll through a burn ward some day or go talk to your local arson investigator - I'm sure they have photos aplenty of people who were just screwing around, drunk, or loony. I saw two small children once burned alive by an "accident", and mom and dad were responsible .. their argument? They were high and drunk.

That's a sight and a smell that will haunt me to the grave.

You're lucky, he didn't kill anyone. But what he did put A LOT of people in danger whether you want to acknowledge that or not.

- Carl