Can husband's DV case be dismissed if I never accused in the first place?

A conviction for DV against a spouse has severe consequences, especially if the defendant is not a US citizen. A conviction or guilty plea of DV against certain household members (including spouses) is a basis for removal from the US of an alien.

Even if your husband is a US citizen, DV is a serious charge as he may be prohibited from having contacts with you and his children.

Both of you may have to retain separate attorneys. Since there is a high potential for conflict of interest, an attorney likely will not consider representing both of you in this case.

The prosecutor that reviewed your husband's case believes that the city has enough evidence to get a conviction. That is why there is a charge.

If your husband is low income, he may qualify for a public defender. However, since there is no criminal charge against you now, you do not qualify for a public defender. You will have to retain an attorney at your own cost. A reason why you should want to retain your own attorney is to discuss with your attorney your right to refuse to testify. Without your testimony, the prosecutor may not have enough evidence to get a conviction against your husband.

Except with the advice of the appropriate attorney, neither of you should be discussing the details of the incident with anyone especially the police. In WA, there is generally no marital communication privilege in a DV case in which the alleged victim is one spouse or the spouses' children and the defendant is the other spouse. See RCW 5.60.060 (Who are disqualified – Privileged communications). Thus, you two talking with each other about the details of the case may even be problematic.

Incidentally, if the wall is damaged, you and your husband will need to repair or pay the landlord for the repair.

Hi, I'm the one who posted the question... thanks for the advice, however, I need to clarify that My husband and I still live together and have NO problems with DV at all. We were told by the police that night that they would not even write my husband up. I have NOT been called to testify. We are truly baffled by this whole thing and feel misled by the police. The whole thing was more of a misunderstanding... no one at all was assaulted or threatened. A neighbor supposedly "heard" us and decided to call, but she calls unnessecarily ALOT, and I believe has even been written up on 911 abuse before. This time, she called anonymously, but we know it was her because everyone else just wouldn't have made that call.

So, could my husband be removed from our house because of this, even though we live happily together at the moment? That would really be a hardship on our family, and there isn't any proof of any damage since we did patch up the SMALL hole in the wall which really was accidental. My husband is FAR from a threat, and our kids will need years of therapy if they don't have contact with him over this gross misrepresentation of truth. Do I just not have any say at all in this? This is an outrage and is TOTALLY unfair. My husband and I are in a great relationship and he is a wonderful father to our children.

While advice is still welcome, I wanted to say that my husband told me that htis hearing is just an arraignment hearing. Chances are he'll just pay a fine. I misunderstood, since I'm not used to anything related to crime in my personal life. As I've said, we are basically peaceful people and don't get into trouble. Thanks again.

Last update... called prosecutor and he said that based on the info that he has about our case, that he can almost 100% assure me that it will be dismissed. So that is great news.