Wyandotte, MI asked in Domestic Violence and Criminal Law for Michigan

Q: How does a DV report affect the defendant, if no charges were pursued or filed by the victim ?

1 Lawyer Answer
Brent T. Geers
Brent T. Geers
Answered
  • Criminal Law Lawyer
  • Grand Rapids, MI
  • Licensed in Michigan

A: I cannot tell exactly what you mean by the question. Are you saying a report was made to police and charges were not initiated? If that's the case, then the effect of the police report is minimal. Anyone can file a police report on just about anything; just filing a report doesn't mean something did or did not happen.

But if you're saying a police report was filed, and the prosecutor charged someone, even though the complaining witness (victim) didn't want anything done, then that's a different matter. Once police are involved, you don't get to tell them how to react. In other words, you don't get to say "arrest that person but not this person". Now, the victim can tell the prosecutor "I don't want anything to happen", but that alone will not stop charges going forward.

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