Q: In mesquite (dallas, tx) can u say that you do not want to press charges once you've already said yes?
There was an incident.. my kid's dad pushed me around and choked me.. it led to me having a vruise on my arm and my hair being pulled out. that day the police came and he left so no arrests were made.. now 2 weeks later, they popped up at my dokr to do a follow up and asked if i wanted to press charges.. i said yes but now i do not want to anymore.. what should i do?
A:
Think very carefully about what you would like to do, considering the consequences of either choice. If you tell the police you want to press charges, you are helping the case against your kid's dad. If you walk back your statements and say you don't want to, you're making less noise about it. If a case has already been filed, it may be too too late to say you don't want to press charges, because the D.A. is already handling the case at that point.
Depending on your memory of the event, it is sometimes possible to sign an affidavit of non-prosecution that says you were excited at the time you talked to police and did not remember things clearly. In your sober recollection now, however, you remember that things did not happen as they are presented in the police statements. That often takes the wind out of the prosecutor's sails.
Please be safe, and good luck.
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