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CrimLaw Bros: Victim doesn't want to press charges. . .
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Date: June 25th, 2012 4:46 PM
"Well. . .me and him had gotten into an argument, and we started fighting and. . .I don't wanna press charges no more."
or
"Well, he said he was gonna get some counseling for his drinking/drug and we are working on our problems, so I don't wanna press charges no more."
Whatever the variation, they typically don't want to see their husband/boyfriend/baby-daddy get in trouble despite the fact that they beat the shit out of them (repeatedily).
I typically don't dismiss the charges and still go forward as long as I have solid evidence that violence did take place. Mostly because I feel like the SOMEONE how to stand up to the Def. and show him (sometimes her) that she can't put their hands on whomever they want and then just butter them up later on.
Those of ya'll who had dealt with this, what's your take? |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 4:50 PM
obviously it's a bad idea to let the repeated beaters off
but how do you deal with having a shit witness? just go with the police report? |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 4:54 PM
I feel that there is a difference between:
"We got into an argument and he pushed me."
vs.
"We got into an argument and he punched me in the nose and dragged me across the floor."
The former is somewhat understandable in the heat of the moment. The ladder shows a violent nature and willinginess to seriously hurt their supposed loved one. |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:10 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:12 PM
a broken nose or the like would count as real physical injury obviously, but just her saying, then recanting, that he dragged her ass around isn't much |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:36 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:43 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:50 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 10:14 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:09 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:46 PM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:43 AM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:46 AM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:52 AM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:15 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 9:59 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:11 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:13 PM
women are manipulative like that. some of them will even hit themselves in the face or bruise themselves to create a false impression of abuse. you need a keen eye for these things in order to avoid persecuting innocent men. |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:55 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:15 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:16 PM
of course, they will both disregard it, and then you charge the dude with violating the order.
churn n burn bro |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:17 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:20 PM
even if the girl is there and says she doesn't want it issued, if the complaint is harshly worded enough the judge will tell the victim to buzz off and issue it anyway. Again, no judge wants to be the one that let "that guy" off, and with the limited information they have, they'll err on the side of caution. |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:22 PM
judges aren't going to ignore this unless it was some brutal stuff |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 10:37 PM
I've had the situtations where Judge will set a high bond. Def. can't post bond. Atty files a motion, Judge denies it because of the violent act the Def. committed.
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:44 AM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:47 AM
If the victim denies violence took place, but I have an arrest warrant taken out by an officer in addition to photographic evidence, the victim recanting her/his testimony really won't move the judge at all.
No judge wants to be on the 10:00 news because a defendant they gave an OR bond to went out and killed their baby-momma.
Judge: Well. . .the victim came to court and said that nothing had happened. . .I believed her.
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:21 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:23 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:24 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:26 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:27 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:27 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:18 PM
Thank God, Im not, and I realize that of all crimes on the face of the earth, "domestic violence" crimes are the most suspect.
What happens in the house should stay in the house, 99% of the time. |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 10:02 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 10:06 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 10:12 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:18 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:20 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 10:54 PM
- 911 phone call
- 911 Dispatcher that took the call
- Photographic evidence
- Subpoena the victim so she has to take the stand (unless they're married).
Most domestic cases plead out. |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:19 PM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:35 AM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:32 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:01 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:02 PM
my bro is honest to a fault, perhaps gets a little too forward with women occasionally but not bad |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:08 PM
I never believe a word the Def. or his mother says whenever they talk about how "good" the person is.
Instead I'd need to look at the evidence in the case before I made a decision.
If it goes to trial, it'll be the evidence that I'll have to rely upon to meet my burden, because other women REGULARLY distrust female victims in non-stranger sexual assault cases. |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 8:49 PM
charge that mother fucker |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:06 PM
This isn't usually the first time that the Defendant has hit the victim.
The victim has million different reasons for not stopping the fighting:
- psychological
- financial
- "cuz she luh him"
or whatever. The Defendant takes advantage of that and realizes that he/she can do whatever they want against the victim as long as they "apologize" to them before it goes to trial and thus they start all over again.
At least if I go forward then the Defendant will know that if he/she puts their hands on the victim again, they will have to deal with the Courts and they won't be able to just have the victim "forget about it".
I dunno, I just hate Domestic Violence cases, so I'm a hardass about it. |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:18 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:22 PM
However, it is entirely different to dump a case because I'm worried about "losing".
I've already lost a couple of cases. I'm not worried about my "record". |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:25 PM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:36 AM
- 911 phone call
- testimony of the reporting officer based upon what he saw and what the witness(es) told him at the scene. |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:37 AM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:45 AM
Either that or you are running low IQ schtick.
Please explain how I can't introduce photograph evidence if I have the officer on the stand that took the photographs and saw the injuries/scene that is depicted in the photos.
ALSO, please describe the situation in which I can't introduce the 911 tape if I have the dispatcher on the stand who answered the call.
*waits* |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:47 AM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:50 AM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:46 AM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:49 AM
In my jurisdiction, the cop will arrest the defendant if he sees physical injury against the victim and charge the def with <insert crime> Family Violence.
If the victim says, "he pushed me" and the cop doesn't see injury, then he'll instruct the victim on how to take out a private/personal warrant.
Most of the time the officer will observe and document the physical injury done to the victim. This is done to stop people from coming back days/months later saying, "Nothing happened, I just called the police cuz I was angry!" |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:55 AM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:58 AM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 1:09 AM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 10:06 AM
Maybe you were sick the day that taught probable cause in law school. |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:19 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:21 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:29 PM
But that 1% of the time when we get a 911 tape with an excited utterance during an ongoing emergency, I try to bend these guys over.If they plea, and it's a first time offense, it's a year probation with a certified batterer's program. If they force it to go to trial, I look or a split sentence with the same conditions, but like a month in jail. If it's a repeat offender, though, I'm going for at least a year to five years in prison, depending on the severity of the crime, whether children were involved, etc. I do not have much pity for these guys. As you know, they rarely even get reported, and when they do, it's because they usually have been beating the same woman for a long time. |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:32 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:42 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:44 PM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:53 PM
And that doesn't even take into account the human factors - it is astoundingly difficult to motivate a jury to convict when the victim herself does not want to go forward with the case. And it is almost impossible when she takes the stand herself and says "he never hit me". Yes, these women can and do lie to protect their abusers. It is super frustrating. |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:45 AM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:47 PM I was excited because I was being beaten. Wait, aren't you trying to prove you were being beaten? |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:56 PM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:00 AM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:09 AM
From the prosecution side, we get cops who show up on the scene to find a woman whose face looks like a hamburger, a drunk asshole whose knuckles are all beat up, we see the pictures, hear the audio, see that 5 women have taken out abuse-prevention orders against him in the past, he has 4 prior domestic a&b convictions, and the woman provides a statement to the police. But we can't do a god damn thing about it because none of the evidence is admissible unless the woman is willing to come forward.
These are not like other crimes, where we have other witnesses who can testify, because by their very nature, they happen in a private, domestic setting. It's a bitch to try these cases.
By the way, I know that everything I have said comes off sexist, and I recognize that. Every once in a while we get a case where a psycho woman tries to knife her husband too. These cases are just as serious, but even harder to prove because juries are even less likely to sympathyze with a battered man. |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:14 AM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:21 AM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:34 AM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:39 AM
That way she has to come to court and testify (unless they are married, which in my jurisdiction they rarely are)
Is that not advised in your juristidction? |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:41 AM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:54 AM
No seriously, if the victim doesn't want to cooperate, then I use the power of the court to compel her to come to court.
That way the defendant learns how serious the Gov't takes domestic violence.
It's easy to keep on beating the shit out of your g/f when you know that she's not going to show up on her own volition.
Most times, women will get pissed, but they'll show up anyways.
Once the Defense Atty sees the victim or learns that she's been personally served, the always take a plea. |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 12:01 AM |
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Date: June 25th, 2012 11:26 PM |
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Date: June 26th, 2012 1:06 AM
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