Attempted murder charge reduced to theft?? WT?

[debadee123]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California A relative of mine attacked his grandma by choking her. He held her neck in his hands, squeezing while she gasped for air & asked her how she like not having any air. He told her he should just kill her. The police were called & they went & got him. He was being charged with attempted murder, elder abuse, & making criminal threats. After going before the judge 1 time, his charges were dropped & a different charge of misdemeanor theft was added. How is this possible? The only way I can see that happening is if the charges were dropped by the grandma. Is there ANY other way for this to happen? I need to know if she did drop them, did her threaten her again to do so. Thank you for any help.

 

[Proserpina]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California A relative of mine attacked his grandma by choking her. He held her neck in his hands, squeezing while she gasped for air & asked her how she like not having any air. He told her he should just kill her. The police were called & they went & got him. He was being charged with attempted murder, elder abuse, & making criminal threats. After going before the judge 1 time, his charges were dropped & a different charge of misdemeanor theft was added. How is this possible? The only way I can see that happening is if the charges were dropped by the grandma. Is there ANY other way for this to happen? I need to know if she did drop them, did her threaten her again to do so. Thank you for any help.

It's not actually up to Grandma although if she refuses to testify it can create a problem for the prosecution.

We cannot tell you whether or not she was threatened into not testifying.

 

[justalayman]

The grandmother does not file charges nor prosecutes them. She is a victim and a witness. Ergo she cannot drop them.


It's impossible to do anything more than guess as to why the charges were altered so drastically. If there were no other witnesses it could be the grandmother recanted her story.

You seem to be quite certain of the specifics of the crime. Were you there? If not, where did you get your rendition of the story?

 

[HighwayMan]

Why don't you give grandma a call and find out what really happened?

 

[debadee123]

I'm certain of the specifics because she ran to my house when she escaped him & we called the police. I was with her while she told her story to them. In response to the other comment, I don't think she would tell me if she did drop the charges since she's known for protecting her own & she knows my position on the whole situation. It's a very strange relationship between us, because to her, blood is thicker....

 

[CdwJava]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California A relative of mine attacked his grandma by choking her. He held her neck in his hands, squeezing while she gasped for air & asked her how she like not having any air. He told her he should just kill her. The police were called & they went & got him. He was being charged with attempted murder, elder abuse, & making criminal threats. After going before the judge 1 time, his charges were dropped & a different charge of misdemeanor theft was added. How is this possible? The only way I can see that happening is if the charges were dropped by the grandma. Is there ANY other way for this to happen? I need to know if she did drop them, did her threaten her again to do so. Thank you for any help.

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for family members to "go sideways" in such matters. It is very likely that grandma has indicated she no longer wishes to cooperate with the prosecution, or, at the preliminary hearing she changed her story in such a way that the elements of the more serious offenses.

The "theft" charge is odd unless he actually took something from the home. However, what it might have been - assuming that the grandson did not live with grandma - is "burglary" which can be charged if he entered with the intent to commit theft or to commit any felony (i.e. the choking and/or the threats). If burglary, it may have been reduced to a misdemeanor in order to get a plea.

It is sad, but common, that family - especially grandparents - will be accepting victims of family assaults and thefts even of violent crimes.

 

[not2cleverRed]

It is possible that the grandson attacked grandma because she wouldn't give him $, and when she fled he walked off with something of value.

I actually know of a grandma who didn't survive such an encounter.

Grandma should be worried. So should other relatives who have been hit up for money.

 

[Proserpina]

I'm certain of the specifics because she ran to my house when she escaped him & we called the police. I was with her while she told her story to them. In response to the other comment, I don't think she would tell me if she did drop the charges since she's known for protecting her own & she knows my position on the whole situation. It's a very strange relationship between us, because to her, blood is thicker....

But that's what I was trying to get across - it's not Grandma's decision to drop charges. The State can go ahead and prosecute even if she retracts her statements.

Unfortunately you're right - to some families, blood is thicker than water even when the blood is choking you

 

[debadee123]

He was living with her & was stealing credit card numbers & buying things on /offline, not to mention how much cash she was giving him on a daily basis & what he stole. The whole situation is sickening to me! The thing I don't understand is, if it's not up to grandma on what he's charged with then why not keep the original charges? The cops that came out decided attempted murder not her. If she doesn't continue to cooperate & follow through do they have to reduce it & let him go? He needs to be locked up & get help and without it he will just do it again, but with a far worse outcome!! This feels to me like the fox is guarding the chicken coup, (or however that goes)!!

 

[Proserpina]

He was living with her & was stealing credit card numbers & buying things on /offline, not to mention how much cash she was giving him on a daily basis & what he stole. The whole situation is sickening to me! The thing I don't understand is, if it's not up to grandma on what he's charged with then why not keep the original charges? The cops that came out decided attempted murder not her. If she doesn't continue to cooperate & follow through do they have to reduce it & let him go? He needs to be locked up & get help and without it he will just do it again, but with a far worse outcome!! This feels to me like the fox is guarding the chicken coup, (or however that goes)!!

We can't know why the State has reduced the charges. The police do not decide on the charges, either.

It often boils down to what can be proven - somebody somewhere thinks that there's not enough for a successful attempted murder charge, or there might have been a plea agreement.

We cannot know what happened.

 

[debadee123]

One more thing, the same night this happened, but earlier, he had called my house and threated me and my kids with killing us. Would I be able to press charges against him for threats? I told the cops this when they were here. What do I do with this now?

 

[Proserpina]

One more thing, the same night this happened, but earlier, he had called my house and threated me and my kids with killing us. Would I be able to press charges against him for threats? I told the cops this when they were here. What do I do with this now?

You can make a report, yes. Whether or not he'll be charged we once again cannot know.

 

[CdwJava]

He was living with her & was stealing credit card numbers & buying things on /offline, not to mention how much cash she was giving him on a daily basis & what he stole. The whole situation is sickening to me! The thing I don't understand is, if it's not up to grandma on what he's charged with then why not keep the original charges?

Because if grandma refuses to testify or she changes her story, there's not a lot they can do. While the state can try to compel her to testify, even consider prosecuting her for making a false police report if she refuses, it is rare to do so. The state needs to prove the elements of the offense, and without her testifying to certain elements, they have no case.

The cops that came out decided attempted murder not her. If she doesn't continue to cooperate & follow through do they have to reduce it & let him go?

That's not the cops' choice, that is up to the DA. It is also possible that the court will issue a criminal protective order protecting her from him. At least, we can hope they do.

He needs to be locked up & get help and without it he will just do it again, but with a far worse outcome!! This feels to me like the fox is guarding the chicken coup, (or however that goes)!!

Yeah, he will probably keep hustling money and stuff from grandma until she decides to stop being a victim ... or, until family and friends step in and help her.

 

[CdwJava]

One more thing, the same night this happened, but earlier, he had called my house and threated me and my kids with killing us. Would I be able to press charges against him for threats? I told the cops this when they were here. What do I do with this now?

If you told the cops that, then they have the info. Did you truly believe that he was on his way over to kill you and your family? What steps did you take after the incident to protect yourself? Call the police? Leave the house? arm yourself? See, the elements of criminal threats (PC 422) require that you not only believe that the threats are valid, but that he has the ability to care them out and that the threats are imminent and not conditional. Otherwise, the most serious offense would be a low grade misdemeanor of harassing phone calls (PC 653m).

 

[debadee123]

Thank you all for your help, and believe me it does help. At least now I understand a little bit more, although not sure that I have more faith in our justice system, but I understand more. Thanks again!