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do they drop charges pre-arraignment

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BENSEB1

Member
What is the name of your state? Virginia.

I am still trying to figure out if they are going
to drop the assault and battery charges before
bothering to arraign him.

The police officer does not call me back.

Others there were confused about why there
is no case file.

Do they ever just drop charges before and without
arraigning a defendant??
 


BENSEB1

Member
Thank you for your straightforward answer.

The victims' specialist did not understand why it
was taking so long for the police to forward the
warrant to the prosecutor's office.

It is not even in the court system and the
warrant was sworn out more than a week ago.
 

The Occultist

Senior Member
For assault, there is still plenty of time for you to continue looking at your mailbox warily. If the DA thinks they have a case, they'll mail your citation to ya. If they don't, you'll never hear from'em.
 

BENSEB1

Member
My exboyfriend is the defendant and
they ARE arraigning him next week.

I don't know what happens after that
or if they do anything else or what.

This whole thing is quite stressful
to me because it is the first time
I told the police anything he did to me.

I was so afraid no one would
believe me.
 

FlyingRon

Senior Member
What makes you think they are going to drop the charges?

If charged with simple assault and battery, it's a misdemeanor. The first appearance just sets the bail with a magistrate. The next step is the arraignment. Unless the Commonwealth's Attorney thinks that there was some serious defect in the case there is little chance the case would be dropped before then. At the arraignment, the charges would be read, he'll enter a plea (not guilty is almost always what you want) and the trial date will be set. The judge will question your bf about whether he is represented by counsel, suggesting he obtain one and providing the application for the public defender if he is indigent.

It would behoove him to have a lawyer now. The lawyer can obtain the case information and meet with the Commonwealth's attorney to suggest dropping charges, diversion, or plea bargains. If you plan to accept a plea bargain, indicating the intent to plead guilty at the arraignment may get you on a faster court docket than if you are going to a trial (especially if requesting a jury) in many jurisdictions.
 

BENSEB1

Member
Thank you, what is "diversion?"

Does the prosecutor decide to drop the charges
without anyone talking to the complainant?

I just think he is going to talk his way out of this.

He is a good liar and kept fooling me for
a while.
 

FlyingRon

Senior Member
Diversion is a deal that's open sometimes where the defendant does probation (usually involving some sort of community service plus drug/alcohol/counselling) and if they sucessfully complete that the charges are dropped.

You can always call the commonwealth's attorney's office as the victim to keep aware of what is going on.

You don't talk your way out of things at an arraignment. The judge just wants to hear a plea and how you're going to proceed (plead guilty, jury trial, etc...).

Most counties/jurisdictions have victims assistance people who can help you further with understanding the proceedings. Here's a phone directory:

http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/victims/documents/victimAssistanceDirectory.pdf
 

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