Q: In Oklahoma, Kay county specifically, I was subpoenaed in a DV case against my partner. Do I have to testify?
February 2020, a situation arose, I never called the police, my adult son did. Partner was arrested and charged with kidnapping me. I didn’t want to press charges, but I did under pressure from my son. I went to the DA’s office a few days later and told them I wasn’t going to testify. I have been served a subpoena. Do I have to go to court? What if I don’t show up? Am I going to jail? Can they make me testify if I show up to court? In an unrelated case that occurred in November 2020 between my partner and same adult son, my 3 minor children were witnesses to what was basically a stand-off between my son and my partner. My son pressed charges, my kids were subpoenaed at 8pm tonite, and court is tomorrow. They don’t want to testify, do I have to make them go to court? If I take them, do they have to testify? Thank you for ur help.
A: This is a very difficult situation for you. It’s also an incredibly common situation in most domestic violence cases where the alleged victim doesn’t want to put daddy or boyfriend or family member or roommate in jail or prison. Well, you certainly COULD get arrested for a misdemeanor disobeying a subpoena, and in big cases you could actually be arrested and held on a material witness bond in jail (likely not the case here), the reality is that domestic violence cases are probably the most commonly dismissed felony and misdemeanor cases in most court houses throughout the country. The county is always reluctant to arrest victims of crime when they decide not to show up even when properly subpoenaed. But understand this please, no attorney can ethically ever tell you to disobey a subpoena. It is against the law. I will say that again, it is against the law technically. If anybody asks you what this attorney has told you, the clear answer is you Must obey a lawfully served subpoena. The reality, once again, is people ignore them every day. If they don’t have witnesses at court to testify, absent a 911 call in the hands of a very persistent ADA or prosecutor, many of these cases get dismissed as “failure of prosecuting witness to cooperate.”
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