Illinois Lawyer Referrals and Legal Guidance
I Want To Drop The Charges
Findgreatlawyers.com is a free service, run by Illinois lawyers, to ask legal questions or find a first rate lawyer for any Illinois legal matter including criminal defense. The lawyers we recommend are not free, but by using our service you will have a lawyer guiding you in finding out who is right to handle your case. If you would like our help you can contact us at (800) 517-1614. We are based in Chicago, but help people find lawyers in just about every county in Illinois. For information on what happens when a victim of a crime wants to drop charges please read on.
Whenever a person has been arrested for a crime, they are taken into custody by the police and usually given the opportunity to post bond. In Illinois once an arrest occurs a case number is assigned and the case is given a title, usually something like The State of Illinois vs. Name of Person Arrested. As a result, a person faces criminal charges is in direct opposition to the State in the courtroom. Although specific people may be harmed by the crime that the person has committed, they are not responsible for nor in control of the case against the charged defendant. For example, if a man is arrested because he has shoplifted an Mp3 player from an electronics store, he will be charged with the crime of retail theft. Although the electronics store has been harmed because the man has taken their merchandise, the criminal case is brought by the state for the harm that a person shoplifting has on society as a whole. The case is not brought by Best Buy, Target or any other retailer that may have been stolen from.
The point of all of this is that once charges are filed it is up to the local prosecutor (also known as the State’s Attorney) as to whether or not the case will proceed. They also are in control of any deals that are made including dropping the charges altogether.
"Dropping the charges" is a commonly misused phrase throughout American culture, such as when explained, "The Johnsons want to drop charges against Yogi for stealing their picnic basket, so he will not be going to jail." This explanation is not true and actually quite misleading. Since a criminal case is brought by the State, the representatives of the State’s Attorneys office are responsible for determining how to pursue and criminal charges against an arrested individual. As a result, a victim cannot decide to drop the charges and absolve the person for their actions, as this power belongs solely with the State prosecution. In other words, the only case that a victim can decide to drop would be a civil suit regarding the incident. For example, if a person if arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol following an accident with another driver, the other driver may not decide whether the intoxicated individual is charged with DUI, but they can control whether a civil suit is brought to pay for any of the damage caused by the accident.
Although a victim cannot drop charges during a criminal case, they often play a crucial role in the establishment of enough evidence to convict a person for a specific crime. In this regard, a victim that does not wish to cause a person charged with a crime can throw a wrench in the state’s case. For example, if a man is arrested for beating his wife in Joliet, the Will County State’s Attorney will likely need his wife to take the stand to serve as a witness to the incident. If she refuses to cooperate it will be hard for the state to prove their case. On the other hand, if the police arrive at the house on a call and witness the man hitting his wife, the wife need not testify to the crime, as the police will be sufficient witnesses to the crime to establish that a law was broken.
If a witness to a crime is not cooperative, they may be issued a subpoena, which is a document that requires the person to testify before court or else face court ordered punishment. Although this doesn’t happen in many cases and is not used in many smaller charges, it is a tool that is available to criminal prosecutors.
If you refuse to testify after your statement has caused someone to be arrested it is not uncommon for the police to arrest you for filing a false police report. In other words if you don’t follow through with what you started you could be a victim and go to jail or face a large court fine.
We often are called by people who are charged with domestic abuse and have a spouse or girlfriend/boyfriend that wants the charges dropped. Many of these people call us after they went to court by themselves only to learn that the Judge would not allow the charges to be dismissed. The good news in most of these situations is that the lawyers we know and recommend are usually so familiar with the Judge’s and prosecutors that they are able to get a dismissal.
Does any of this sound confusing? It can be, but having a lawyer who handles criminal cases every day and knows the system can be the difference between success and failure. If you have questions or would like our help in finding a lawyer, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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