Q: My brother-in-law had an argument with his wife. She started video-taping him with her phone so he wrestled the phone
From her. Charged with DV and interfering with device. Police charged with felony but shouldn’t it be misdemeanor 1st time offense? Is it felony if kids are there? If wife wants charges dropped can they be dropped or do police pursue on their own?
A:
Your brother-in-law needs to consult with a good criminal defense attorney right away. Whether a domestic violence charge is a felony or a misdemeanor can depend on a lot of factors. I don't know enough about his situation to give specific advice here. But whatever the case may be, his situation is serious and he needs a good attorney.
Since the matter was reported to the police, his wife cannot just have the charges dismissed (or dropped, as you wrote). However, as the "victim" in the case, she has the right to tell the prosecuting attorney what she thinks should happen. The prosecutors don't always do what the victims say. However, the good prosecutors usually carefully consider it.
A: He needs to get an attorney to help him with this. The charge is probably and aggravated assault for some reason, and the assuser cannot have the charges thrown out.
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