Q: I reported my husband for domestic abuse. How can i drop the charge and not go further with it?
A:
You lose control of the situation when you report it. If a criminal case has been filed, only the prosecutor can dismiss it. The prosecution is required to “consider” your input, but they often decide to pursue domestic violence charges against the wishes of the alleged victim. You can tell them you hope they dismiss the charges and/or that you don’t want to testify in court, but ultimately it is their decision now.
It may be that the best you can do is approach the defense attorney and ask if there is anything you can do to help the defense. You are required to tell the truth, but often the truth about what happened is not nearly as bad as the cops claimed. Some of them compulsively exaggerate and, if that happened in this case, the defense attorney can use it to her client’s advantage. Sometimes the officers just to conclusions, fail properly investigate, and miss potential self-defense or defense of property situations that are revealed when the alleged victim talks to the defense team.
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