Home > Research Legal Advice > Domestic Violence > Can the victim drop charges after filing assault and battery
Asked about 3 years ago - Massachusetts
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I was in an argument with a woman and to stop her from hitting me I grabbed her arm causing a bruise. She filed a restaining order and assault and battery charges. She now wants to drop it and wrote a letter to sa so. She plans not to attend the hearing.
This is in Massachusette..can this be done
Unfortunately,the woman's position, while significant, is not controlling. DA's are doing all they can to prosecute these type of charges, even without the assistance or cooperation of the alleged victim. I know of one court where they are using the recorded telephone call from the woman as evidence if the woman will not testify. In your case, the woman is not your wife so the court can actually order her to testify and issue a bench warrant to have the police to get her and bring her into court. The best thing that you can do is hire a good criminal defense attorney. You only have one chance to get this right and if it isn't handled correctly, you could end up with a criminal charge on your record that will make life very difficult for you. If you need experienced counsel and are relatively local, call me at the number below or contact me through my website, also listed below. Good luck. You have rights and you must have a good defense attorney protect and enforce those rights to come out of this where you should.
Attorney Brown is correct, in a criminal case, the decision whether or not to proceed is in the hands of the prosecutor, not the alleged victim. However, if there are no other witnesses to the alleged assault and battery, then the DA will need the alleged victim's testimony to proceed against you at trial. If she does not show up, and the DA knows that she is not on board with the prosecution, the matter is usually dismissed on the day of trial. Good luck.
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