The alleged victim, the person that called the police does not want to prosecute, does that mean that no charges will be filed and that I will be released from custody?
Not necessarily. There are many reasons why the alleged victim or reporting party may have a change of heart and not want to prosecute. It may be that the report of the crime (violence, theft, or other violation) may have been false or inaccurate. It may also be that the alleged victim is scared to proceed with the prosecution or may have various other reasons (unrelated to whether or not a crime was actually committed) underlying their desire to drop the charges. The police and the prosecutor’s offices are aware of all these possible reasons, and do not routinely just “drop charges”. This is especially true in domestic violence cases. They attempt to re-interview the reporting party to understand the reason behind the change of heart. While prosecutors may consider whether or not the alleged victim wishes to prosecute, the alleged victim’s wishes are never the sole decision making factor. However, from a criminal defense perspective much can typically be gained from a non-cooperating
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