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If you don't press charges on a Domestic Violence complaint . . .

MaggieD

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. . . you should be fined $500 first offense. $1000 second offense. Etc.

These are some of the most dangerous calls a LEO can respond to. What's with, "Help me!! Help me!! Help me!!!" And then cops arresting the aggressor and the victim not pressing charges?

We charge people for ambulance service . . . why not a fine (a charge) when some stupid wifey lets her husband bat her around, waste officers' time and then not follow through?
 
. . . you should be fined $500 first offense. $1000 second offense. Etc.

These are some of the most dangerous calls a LEO can respond to. What's with, "Help me!! Help me!! Help me!!!" And then cops arresting the aggressor and the victim not pressing charges?

We charge people for ambulance service . . . why not a fine (a charge) when some stupid wifey lets her husband bat her around, waste officers' time and then not follow through?

It is not the victim, but the state, that presses charges. A wife is not compelled to testify against her husband. It is indeed odd that we charge folks for ambulance servces and then compel the ER to treat them for free. ;)
 
meh, that's not a very good solution

in all the states I have lived in, the State will press charges even if the victim does not.
the victim might not want to press charges because of the relationship to the perpetrator.. in many cases, the victim doesn't want the aggressor to be punished as harshly as the state will inevitably do, they just want the immediate help to end whatever conflict they are having right then.
I think it's bad policy to criminalize not pressing charges.. you'll be effectively victimizing the victim.

my brother in law didn't press charges on me when I beat his ass ( he couldn't he was unconscious for 13 days).. the state did... my brother in law is more pissed that i got punished than he is about getting his ass beat.
there's very odd and complex dynamics at work here..and i would have hated to see him convicted of a crime after getting his ass beat like that.
 
It is not the victim, but the state, that presses charges. A wife is not compelled to testify against her husband. It is indeed odd that we charge folks for ambulance servces and then compel the ER to treat them for free. ;)


ambulance companies are private companies....they are a business, not a government mandated service.

they still suffer from the same problems of non-payment as hospitals do, though
 
ambulance companies are private companies....they are a business, not a government mandated service.

they still suffer from the same problems of non-payment as hospitals do, though

Not all ambulance services are private and not all ER services are public. Try again.
 
meh, that's not a very good solution

in all the states I have lived in, the State will press charges even if the victim does not.
the victim might not want to press charges because of the relationship to the perpetrator.. in many cases, the victim doesn't want the aggressor to be punished as harshly as the state will inevitably do, they just want the immediate help to end whatever conflict they are having right then.
I think it's bad policy to criminalize not pressing charges.. you'll be effectively victimizing the victim.

my brother in law didn't press charges on me when I beat his ass ( he couldn't he was unconscious for 13 days).. the state did... my brother in law is more pissed that i got punished than he is about getting his ass beat.
there's very odd and complex dynamics at work here..and i would have hated to see him convicted of a crime after getting his ass beat like that.

I don't know anything about your situation but just based on what you've posted here, I think it shows why it's a good thing that the state makes the call and not the victim. That does not sound like something you should have walked on. No offense.
 
Not all ambulance services are private and not all ER services are public. Try again.

all of the ambulance service i'm aware of are private.... but it's true I don't have knowledge of every single one of them across the nation.
 
I don't know anything about your situation but just based on what you've posted here, I think it shows why it's a good thing that the state makes the call and not the victim. That does not sound like something you should have walked on. No offense.

no offense taken...I didn't mind getting collared, I did wrong and had to pay my price.
I could have taken it to trial... or made a plea deal for a lesser charge.. but I plead guilty and took responsibility
( i did, however, take on future successful proceedings to right some wrongs that the penalties held)

Nevada state law, as written, is exceptionally bad ( overly broad)... but it was ,and is, the law.
if it were to happen today to me, I'd take it to trial and appeal up the chain in order to narrow the law a bit.. but I was a broke then, I didn't have the resources to fight a badly written law.
 
no offense taken...I didn't mind getting collared, I did wrong and had to pay my price.
I could have taken it to trial... or made a plea deal for a lesser charge.. but I plead guilty and took responsibility
( i did, however, take on future successful proceedings to right some wrongs that the penalties held)

Nevada state law, as written, is exceptionally bad ( overly broad)... but it was ,and is, the law.
if it were to happen today to me, I'd take it to trial and appeal up the chain in order to narrow the law a bit.. but I was a broke then, I didn't have the resources to fight a badly written law.

Yeah, I hate those badly written laws that level penalties for beating someone into a coma. :mrgreen:
 
Yeah, I hate those badly written laws that level penalties for beating someone into a coma. :mrgreen:
:lol:

the problem with the law was.. I would qualify for a domestic violence charge for beating up nearly anyone in the state of Nevada.. it was broadly written.

they did take out part of the broad law ( the part of about commercial relationships).. so that's a good thing... but it still includes any person you are related to by marriage... meaning.. if you beat up the 2nd cousin to the 3rd cousin of your spouses 3rd cousin twice removed, you are getting prosecuted for domestic violence instead of assault
there's no limit to how far "related by marriage" goes in the statute.
I beat up my brother in law who didn't live with us and whom i had no real relationship with.. he came to the house to high on meth to confront me about telling my wife she should tell his wife to dump his worthless junkie ass.. and nearly got killed for it ( he died twice, but was resuscitated).. he's now in prison, again, for cooking and selling meth...we won't be seeing him again, he'll die in prison.
silly neo-nazi junkies.. they ain't too smart..
 
Every state is different. When I became a street cop in CA if the victim didn't press charges there was nothing we could do, but the law changed in my first year. The change
enabled LE to arrest a suspect if we merely saw evidence of an "impact" on the victim physically - done. We didn't need a victims statement at all, just a black eye, bruise
or something illustrating a fight occured.


. . . you should be fined $500 first offense. $1000 second offense. Etc.

These are some of the most dangerous calls a LEO can respond to. What's with, "Help me!! Help me!! Help me!!!" And then cops arresting the aggressor and the victim not pressing charges?

We charge people for ambulance service . . . why not a fine (a charge) when some stupid wifey lets her husband bat her around, waste officers' time and then not follow through?
 
Every state is different. When I became a street cop in CA if the victim didn't press charges there was nothing we could do, but the law changed in my first year. The change
enabled LE to arrest a suspect if we merely saw evidence of an "impact" on the victim physically - done. We didn't need a victims statement at all, just a black eye, bruise
or something illustrating a fight occured.

That's true in many states these days. However, you cannot force the victim to testify for your side or keep them from testifying for the defense.
 
:lol:

the problem with the law was.. I would qualify for a domestic violence charge for beating up nearly anyone in the state of Nevada.. it was broadly written.

they did take out part of the broad law ( the part of about commercial relationships).. so that's a good thing... but it still includes any person you are related to by marriage... meaning.. if you beat up the 2nd cousin to the 3rd cousin of your spouses 3rd cousin twice removed, you are getting prosecuted for domestic violence instead of assault
there's no limit to how far "related by marriage" goes in the statute.
I beat up my brother in law who didn't live with us and whom i had no real relationship with.. he came to the house to high on meth to confront me about telling my wife she should tell his wife to dump his worthless junkie ass.. and nearly got killed for it ( he died twice, but was resuscitated).. he's now in prison, again, for cooking and selling meth...we won't be seeing him again, he'll die in prison.
silly neo-nazi junkies.. they ain't too smart..



Pity you don't live in SC. Him coming to your house and starting ****? Instantly his fault 98% of the time.
 
That's true in many states these days. However, you cannot force the victim to testify for your side or keep them from testifying for the defense.

Actually yes you can compel testimony. It's called a "subpoena". Realistically though, those types of witnesses are not exactly helpful to the state's case.
 
. . . you should be fined $500 first offense. $1000 second offense. Etc.

These are some of the most dangerous calls a LEO can respond to. What's with, "Help me!! Help me!! Help me!!!" And then cops arresting the aggressor and the victim not pressing charges?

We charge people for ambulance service . . . why not a fine (a charge) when some stupid wifey lets her husband bat her around, waste officers' time and then not follow through?
Unless the goal is to reduce the number of people calling for help, even when legit, for fear they will be fined if the appropriate hoops remain unjumped... I fail to see the point.
 
Actually yes you can compel testimony. It's called a "subpoena". Realistically though, those types of witnesses are not exactly helpful to the state's case.

spousal testimonial privilege ...

some states allow the privilege to be suspended when it comes to a crime being committed by one spouse that victimizes the other... but that's not the same as compelling a spouse to testify, .. it just prevents the party-spouse from invoking the privilege as a means to disallow the witness-spouse's testimony.
in general, you cannot compel a spouse to testify.... in most cases, you can't prevent it if that is what they want, but you can't compel it.
 
. . . you should be fined $500 first offense. $1000 second offense. Etc.

These are some of the most dangerous calls a LEO can respond to. What's with, "Help me!! Help me!! Help me!!!" And then cops arresting the aggressor and the victim not pressing charges?


Unless the goal is to reduce the number of people calling for help, even when legit, for fear they will be fined if the appropriate hoops remain unjumped... I fail to see the point.

To build on what radcen said, the sorts of cases where someone would call for help and then change their tune often involve a lot of psychological issues. You would essentially be fining someone for having a mental illness originating from abuse perpetrated by the person not being fined.




We charge people for ambulance service . . . why not a fine (a charge) when some stupid wifey lets her husband bat her around, waste officers' time and then not follow through?

Private business versus government service. One charges for its services in order to exist, the other is paid for with taxes.
 
Unless the goal is to reduce the number of people calling for help, even when legit, for fear they will be fined if the appropriate hoops remain unjumped... I fail to see the point.

Y'know, I understand all the arguments like that and, in fact, I was going so say something along those lines but frankly Maggie has a good point. Ok, maybe the first couple times you don't get fined but if you habitually call the police and use their time that could be spent elsewhere and fail to follow through maybe there should be some way to legally discourage that.
 
Y'know, I understand all the arguments like that and, in fact, I was going so say something along those lines but frankly Maggie has a good point. Ok, maybe the first couple times you don't get fined but if you habitually call the police and use their time that could be spent elsewhere and fail to follow through maybe there should be some way to legally discourage that.
I don't disagree with that. There should be something for people who habitually do this. I just think that fines will have the reverse of what's intended.
 
. . . you should be fined $500 first offense. $1000 second offense. Etc.

These are some of the most dangerous calls a LEO can respond to. What's with, "Help me!! Help me!! Help me!!!" And then cops arresting the aggressor and the victim not pressing charges?

We charge people for ambulance service . . . why not a fine (a charge) when some stupid wifey lets her husband bat her around, waste officers' time and then not follow through?

On more than one occasion, I have been physically attacked by a wife while trying to arrest her husband after she called 911 to report he was beating the **** out of her. One crazy bitch even tried to stab me. If you don't want the cops to show up and arrest your spouse...don't ****ing call 911 and tell them he/she is beating your ass.
 
On more than one occasion, I have been physically attacked by a wife while trying to arrest her husband after she called 911 to report he was beating the **** out of her. One crazy bitch even tried to stab me. If you don't want the cops to show up and arrest your spouse...don't ****ing call 911 and tell them he/she is beating your ass.

To build on what radcen said, the sorts of cases where someone would call for help and then change their tune often involve a lot of psychological issues.

Just saying.
 
Actually yes you can compel testimony. It's called a "subpoena". Realistically though, those types of witnesses are not exactly helpful to the state's case.

You can force them to show up. You cannot compel them to say what you want them to say. In which case it's probably better just to leave them alone rather than have them torpedo your case.
 
You can force them to show up. You cannot compel them to say what you want them to say. In which case it's probably better just to leave them alone rather than have them torpedo your case.

Theoretically they can be compelled to testify truthfully under the threat of purjury. Often the complainant is the state's case.
 
Theoretically they can be compelled to testify truthfully under the threat of purjury. Often the complainant is the state's case.

I love it when you have them on the 911 recording screaming bloody murder about how he is beating the **** out of her and please hurry because he is going to kill her and you get there and take crimes scene photos of her with busted lips and black eyes and then when it gets to court she tries to deny that he ever touched her.
 
W
Theoretically they can be compelled to testify truthfully under the threat of purjury. Often the complainant is the state's case.

Many of these people are rightfully more scared of the defendant than they are of a perjury charge. I know of at least two cases in New England where charges were dropped after the victim refused to testify against the defendant in the manner the DA wanted.
 
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