Are you wondering how to drop domestic violence charges in NJ? Have you decided not to go forwards with a prosecution?
One of the most popular inquiries most domestic violence or assault lawyers get is about dropping charges the victim might have made. In this article, we will deliberate how you can drop domestic violence charges you do not want to move forward with a prosecution.
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How to drop domestic violence charges in NJ?
Sometimes, unfortunately, people get charged against violence or assault they did not commit. If you are a casualty of false charges, this section can help you figure things out.
If you reside in New Jersey and are looking into dropping your domestic violence charges, you can do it in four steps. We do recommend you to contact a legal expert, however, and understand the procedures and consequences clearly.
- First things first, you need to figure out who filed the charges or made the allegations. Contrary to popular belief, most domestic violence charges are actually not filed by the victim party. Oftentimes, it is either a private citizen who was the witness. Other times, police, who got a tip via 911 and, as respond conducted an investigation, filed a complaint against the aggravator.
- The next phase is to look into the evidence the police have gathered through investigations. These investigations are often quite thorough, and the police tend to keep a detailed record of all the gathered data. In this step, you will need the aid of a lawyer. You and your attorney need to study the pieces of evidence against you and find a mistake that will help to cancel out the pieces of evidence. If the pieces of evidence are weak, then you can easily build a stronger case against them.
- Now you will have to do the difficult yet possible task of convincing the prosecutor of the case to drop the case. This can be possible by proving that the shreds of evidence against you are weak and not reliable. If you can gather and show vital pieces of evidence to prove your innocence, it would help the matter too. Moreover, if the alleged victim comes forward and can speak for you, it would help to persuade the prosecutor too.
- Lastly, if you are not able to convince the prosecutor to drop the case, you can only hope for one thing. Your case can and will be dismissed by the court if the alleged victim or the alleged witness fails to show up on the day of the court hearing.
Therefore, you can only hope for the best outcome while keeping the persistence of your innocent. The foolproof way of dropping the allegations against you would be to have strong evidence to support your claim.
Can you drop assault charges in NJ?
On the other hand, are you wondering can the victim drop domestic violence charges? The answer is no, and you cannot simply drop assault charges in NJ.
The reason behind this ruling is that many victims tend to protect their abusers. In some cases, the abusers go as far as threatening the victims to drop the charges. Also, it is important to remember, in most cases, a witness or a bystander file charged against the abuser. Hence, in NJ, it is not mandatory for a victim to file charges.
Therefore, the NJ law does not allow victims to simply drop charges. This usually applies to cases where the abuser is the significant other of the victim, i.e. the spouse or the partner.
What can you do?
So, how can you drop domestic violence charges because you really do not want to go forward with prosecution for whatever reason? You can refuse to testify against the defendant. Of course, that is if the defendant refused to plead. You can then look into the evidence the prosecutor has against the defendant and work accordingly. You can either find weak links in the evidence or come up with a piece of more substantial evidence to prove the defendant’s innocence.
How can an attorney help you to drop domestic violence charges?
Like in every legal issue, it is the best idea to consult a legal expert and let them guide you. In this case, we suggest you hire and consult with a domestic violence attorney – this applies to the defendant and the victim or the witness.
If you have domestic violence charges against you, it is crucial you need to understand where you stand in the case. An attorney will look into the case, study the piece of evidence against you, and inform you whether the plea offer is a good one or not. Having a legal expert’s help guidance will also give you the confidence you need to prove your innocence or at least get a shorter sentence.
On the other hand, an attorney will guide you into understanding where you stand if you are the victim. If you choose to go onward with the prosecution, an attorney will inform you that you cannot lie and everything you say must be the truth, and the pieces of shreds of evidence should be authentic.
However, if you as a victim do not want to testify and corporate with the prosecutor, then it is your decision. But the prosecutor, with the pieces of evidence they have, can still move forward with the prosecution. Hence, an attorney can help you understand the consequences of the actions you will take.
How are domestic violence cases handled in New Jersey?
Domestic violence cases are handled quite seriously in New Jersey. That is why there is no easy way of domestic violence cases being dropped. Legal authorities in NJ will investigate any domestic violence case thoroughly and keep a record of the collected data in detail.
Cases filed by private citizens, police or State are all taken equally seriously. The victims and the abusers will not have any say about dropping the charges unless they have solid proof that will prove the charges false.
To Conclude
For those of you who read this article, in order to understand and to know how to drop domestic violence charges in NJ, we hope we helped to shed some knowledge about the situation surrounding such cases. We highly encourage you to consult a domestic violence attorney to help you through your case. It is crucial to prevent making any mistakes or fall into a legal trap that will make the situation worse for you.
