Dropping Domestic Violence Charges in Howard County

The process to drop domestic violence charges in Howard County can be very easy. A person who files for a protective order is called a petitioner. The petitioner, at any phase leading up to the order, can withdraw or dismiss it by asking to withdraw.

Once the order is in place, they have to file a written request to withdraw it and they will be sent in for a hearing because once it is in place, there has been an entering order. They are doing so because the nature of it indicates that maybe they are a victim, maybe they are afraid and a judge wants to assess the person by seeing them as opposed to reading something on paper saying they want to withdraw it.

What judges do not want to do is to dismiss them outright because they want to have the individual person who filed it there in front of them and they will look them in the eye and make sure they do have their own free will, no one is forcing them, threatening them, or coercing them. Talk to an experienced domestic violence lawyer in Howard County so that you can make sure you get what you want in your case and understand the circumstances.

Dropped Charges

An individual cannot drop domestic violence charges in Howard County themselves. They do not have the ability because they are a witness of the state. Only a prosecutor can dismiss charges. If the person, who is their key witness who is the injured party, comes forward and says they do not want to proceed, then, likely, the prosecutor will consider that in deciding whether they still want to go forward because there is a small off chance of cases going forward.

If the parties are married, they can have a spouse invoke spousal privilege. That also can lead the charge to go away in many situations. It depends on the circumstance but the accuser cannot necessarily drop the charges because they do not have the authority but they can voice their position and, sometimes, persuade a prosecutor to drop the charges.

There is no district attorney in Maryland; it is assistant state’s attorneys. There is no district attorney in Maryland. They are called assistant state’s attorneys. The answer is yes, there are independent proceedings.

Case Process

To further the process, individuals can issue a subpoena. They can come to court and bring the person involuntarily to court to testify. If they do not, they can be held in contempt and jailed. That is something they can force a person to do.

The problem is many individuals who have been assaulted want to protect the accuser. It is not because something happened, but it is because they feel bad, they have a loyalty to them, or they are related. There is battered spouse syndrome, there are people who are alleged victims of abuse, and attorneys want to stop that. Oftentimes, the person who is suffering the consequences of the injury will not want to do what needs to be done to help themselves. Prosecutors take it upon themselves to make it happen if the person injured is not willing to help. When considering charges and whether or not dropping charges in a Howard County domestic violence is beneficial, skilled domestic violence attorneys can help.