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Speak Up! - View Question #621 |
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Question: Will the State (the prosecutor) bring charges even if the victim does not wish to press charges?
Answer: The short answer is yes. The decision whether or not to file charges against someone suspected of having committed a crime is strictly the prosecutor's decision. Under victims' rights laws that were enacted in recent years (called the Victims' Bill of Rights and appearing in the Arizona Constitution, and enacted as statutes for juvenile court cases), alleged victims have the right to be notified of many aspects of the case, including dates of court hearings, the accused's release status, and the person(s) in the probation department responsible for preparing the pre-sentence report. In these ways the victim can influence the decisions of the court.
The victim may also influence the decisions of the prosecutor, but only
after formal charges have been filed. That is, the victim has the right
to confer with the prosecutor after charges have been filed. The victim
therefore does not have much influence over the prosecutor's decision
whether to charge, but the victim can be very influential over how the
charges are disposed of by this right. The victim must be conferred with
over any plea agreement offer. Often plea offers involve dropping the
charges (for example in a diversion agreement where the accused will
attend counseling, or do community service work, or pay back the victim
his or her financial loss in exchange for dismissal of the charges).
Although the victim has the right to have input into how the charges
are disposed of, the ultimate decision is the prosecutor's decision.
One practical way in which a victim can influence whether a charge is
brought in the first place is with the police. If the police never refer
their report to the prosecutor, the prosecutor will not know that a crime
has occurred that can be charged.
Frequently, if an incident is sufficiently
minor and the victim informs the police that they do not wish to press
charges, the police report will not be referred to the prosecutor and
there won't be an occasion for charges to be brought.
In all, you would want the elected government authority, the prosecutor,
to have the final charging decision. Otherwise, victims, in particular
battered
spouses, abused children, and others, could be coerced by threat or otherwise
to 'not press charges.'
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