Can an Alleged Victim Drop Domestic Violence Charges?

If you can convince the cops at that point that there is no crime that has been committed and that you shouldn’t be arrested for any reason, that is great for you. If the police are dispatched to a domestic dispute, they will investigate it as such. That means they will assess if property has been damaged in a fight or struggle. They will observe if anyone shows any evidence of physical injury, and they will speak to the alleged victim and to you (if you allow them to) to determine in their minds if a crime has been committed.

We advise most people to not speak to the police at that point, or at any point, because in 99% of the cases we see, what is said will be used against you in court. Your 5th Amendment right to remain silent should be exercised at this point in a case. Cops rarely believe what a person suspected of a crime will offer as far as explanation. If the alleged victim wants to talk to the police and say that there was no crime, and that whatever happened was an accident or non-violent misunderstanding, then great, let she or he do that.

Be aware that if the cops show up and there is bruising or blood on someone and broken dishes or vases or torn clothing in view, they will make the decision that a crime was committed no matter what anyone says otherwise. Why would cops do that? There are a couple of reasons. Remember how we said earlier that the laws are designed to favor and protect alleged victims…that is what the cops are trained to do…favor and protect. Is that biased behavior on their part? Yes, it is.

The other reason that we believe that the cops make biased decisions is because they are trained and told that the law enforcement agency that they work for needs the money from the state or federal government grants that most local police agencies receive to combat domestic violence. Once the federal and state governments started giving money out for such programs, it became big business for local county and city governments to go after that money by showing they needed it because of the large number of cases that they have in their jurisdiction. How do they show those large numbers?

By showing how many arrests they made for these alleged crimes during a certain period of time…not how many actual convictions there were after a case went to court and some decisions were made by a judge or jury as to the validity of the alleged crime…but how many arrest were made, whether they were righteous cases or not!

Be aware that an alleged victim does not have the final say, or sometimes any say, as to whether someone is arrested and prosecuted for a DV offense.

The entire criminal justice system is rigged to NOT believe anything that the alleged victim will say if it is in favor of the person accused. Again, once the police become involved in a situation, they are the ones who will decide if a crime was committed and who may be responsible for committing it. The criminal justice system believes that alleged victims, especially women, are not competent to make their own decisions because they may be afraid to go against the perpetrator of the DV or they are too emotional to make a good decision.

We believe that it is our best practice to get involved in the case when we are retained to represent someone in their defense of the DV charges by speaking to the alleged victim ourselves in our office or wherever it can be done in a calm and comfortable environment. Some defense attorneys think that it is risky to talk to an alleged victim because they can be accused of trying to intimidate or scare them.

We believe that it is the best way to approach the defense of the case by talking to EVERYONE involved in the case who can add anything to our overall perspective on the case. We can include one of our investigators in the meeting and/or video-record the meeting so there is never any question as to our handling of the alleged victim. Our discussions with the alleged victim give us the basis to be able to go to a prosecutor and tell them that the alleged victim wants to drop the case and does not want our client punished for anything that may have happened.

We have successfully handled hundreds of domestic clients in our more than 68 years of combined criminal defense practices and can assist you at the critical time in your life when you need experienced and persuasive counsel on your side.

Call or text us at any time, day or night, 7 days a week at 760-898-0205.