Criminal Defense

There are two reasons we get Affidavits of Non-Prosecution (ANP). One is to encourage the prosecution to back off. The other is to nail down testimony for later use. If the ANP is well-drafted and contains enough information helpful to the defense, then the case may be dismissed. This is especially true when the State needs the affiant (person who signed the ANP) as a witness. For example, in many family violence cases, the only witness is the victim. If the victim signs an ANP and refuses to testify, the State will have extreme difficulty proving their case, so they are likely to dismiss. On the other hand, if the victim was attacked at a family reunion in front of 50 people, an ANP probably won't help. So, the usefulness of the ANP varies with the facts of each case.

It also varies with the quality of the ANP. A simple legal form is not so helpful as a statement in the affiant's own words. If the ANP appears to contradict other evidence, the State won't believe it. Worse, if there is any suggestion that the affiant was coerced into signing the ANP, then it will often make things worse by causing the State to demand a higher penalty or even filing new charges.

If the State decides to continue prosecuting, then the ANP can be used to undermine the credibility of the witness who signed it. For example, if the affiant admits in the ANP that he/she called the police just to get someone in trouble, but that nothing really happened, then that person will look very bad on the witness stand. On the other hand, if the witness was forced to sign it, the ANP could even hurt the defendant when that information comes out.