Can a domestic violence assult charge be dropped, based on how long it took to report?
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Can a domestic violence assult charge be dropped, based on how long it took to report?
I don’t want to go into a lot of the
details. This was an incident that was
blown out of proportion by the
mandatory police reporting laws. I am
afraid of being convicted. A few
factors I am hoping that will help my
case. 1 alcohol, 2 in treatment for
PTSD 3 being asked to come home a get
hours after the alleged assult 4 it
wasn’t reported until 5 days after the
incident.
Asked on March 1, 2017 under Criminal Law, Maine
Answers:
B.H.F., Member, Texas State Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
The decision to drop a charge will be up to the prosecutor. They will certainly take into account the length of time that it took the victim to report the incident, but it will not be the controlled factor. The main factor will be whether or not the prosecutor actually believes there is enough evidence to move forward with the charges. Evidence can be marks consistent with an assault, admissions made by the victim or defendant, and any physical evidence which may remain at the original scene of the incident.
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