Matthew J. Ruff Domestic Violence Law Blog on Lawyers.com

Can my wife drop charges in a domestic violence case?

Tuesday, November 25, 2008 by Matthew J. Ruff

Criminal domestic violence charges include spousal abuse, threats and battery.  Charges are filed and prosecuted by the District Attorney.  A Dom estic Violence Lawyer can assist in convincing the D.A. to drop charges, however the wife or victim's desire to drop the case is not determinative.  Because the D.A. represents the state, the government is the one pursuing criminal charges, not the spouse.  As such, only the district attorney can decide that charges will be dropped.

Commonly, the prosecutor will regard the spouse's request to drop charges as one motivated by pressure, either economic or romantically motivated.  The decision therefore is usually affected more by the strength of the evidence than anything else, which is why a lawyer is important in the process.

Posted at 10:21 AM
Topic: Domestic Violence
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