How Long Does A Prosecutor Have To File Charges

No, prosecutors do not e'er file charges.

In the commodity that follows, we'll explain some of the reasons why a prosecutor might determine not to file a instance.

Do Prosecutors Always File Charges? (EXPLAINED)

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Prosecutors Merely File When They Think They Can Prove Their Case At Trial Across A Reasonable Dubiousness

Prosecutors practice "intake" on a daily basis.

Intake involves reviewing the reports and tickets filed by police officers or fifty-fifty civilians.

The prosecutor makes the decision about which causes should go forward in the court organisation, which need to exist investigated farther, and which should just wilt on the vine.

"No-File" Cases

There are many reasons a prosecutor might determine to "no-file" a example.

The first and most obvious one is that the show that exists in the situation doesn't establish a violation of any constabulary.

The second situation is where the prosecutor might believe that a law-breaking occurred, only the evidence to prove the case is unavailable and could non always become bachelor.

For instance, let's say that a fellow member of the public reports seeing John Doe leap the fence into her backyard, committing the criminal offense of trespassing.

There's no video, audio, or admissions by John Doe.

Then the fellow member of the public passes away from natural causes.

Since the rules about bringing in the hearsay statements (out of court statements offered for the truth of the matter asserted) are very stringent, it is unlikely that the deceased witness report well-nigh the trespass could exist admitted.

Since in that location is no other evidence implicating John Doe in the alleged criminal offense, the prosecutor would probably no choose to pursue the instance, even though he believes that deceased witness statements.

The third situation is where the prosecutor does not believe that a prosecution against the offender would be in the interests of justice.

For instance, let's say that a defendant embezzles money from his employer.

The employer learns of the embezzlement and reports the theft to the authorities.

Before the prosecutor has a chance to review the case and file it, the defendant returns all the money with interest, making the employer completely whole.

While a crime had been committed, the victim in the case was made whole past the accused, and to punish the defendant for his actions would cost the taxpayers a lot of money.

Justice might have demanded a prosecution of the defendant had not returned the money.

But since the victim in this case had his property returned and no longer desired the case to keep on a public forum (exposing the manifestly vulnerable financial practices of his business), justice would not need that the case be filed.

In other situations, the victims have a strong say in the prosecutor's decision to go forward.

Sometimes (though not every time), if the victim does not want the instance to proceed, the prosecutor will agree not to pursue it.

And sadly, sometimes a prosecutor's function just doesn't have the money to prosecutor all of the cases of a particular type that are reported.

Sometimes these are low level substance corruption cases, while others are depression level misdemeanors that involve little to no damage.

The government has to focus its resources on where information technology can practice the most good for the customs.

Farther Investigation

Many cases come up across the desk during intake that evidence that a crime had occurred, but the evidence presented isn't enough in the prosecutor'south stance to convince a jury across a reasonable doubt.

Or perchance in that location were some obvious actions that weren't taken (like testing the white powder in the baggie) that would aid the prosecutor's example.

Or perhaps fifty-fifty make it possible for the prosecutor to file additional charges in the case.

(After all, it is a common tactic for the government to file multiple charges confronting a defendant and then agree in negotiations to dismiss one or many of them if the accused agrees to plead guilty to something.)

Either way, many cases sometimes just need a fiddling chip more than.

They won't go the "no-file" designation, but that doesn't mean that charges won't be coming down the pike later.

What If The Example Is No-Filed? Does That Mean It's Over?

Maybe, but maybe non.

The prosecutor has whatever time is allotted by the applicable statute of limitations to file charges against a defendant.

If a citizen commits another criminal offence, that no-filed case might come right back out of the closet to haunt the accused.

After all, and so long as the prosecutor believes he can prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, he can file information technology against the defendant.

The defendant might feel similar this is "unfair" to him, only from the prosecutor'due south side of things, the threat of filing the no-filed instance should have encouraged that defendant to avoid criminal activity.

Limbo

Waiting for the prosecutor to file (or non) often leaves a potential defendant feeling like he is living in "limbo."

He might feel like he cannot move forward until he knows for sure, like with moving, applying for schoolhouse or a new job, or having children.

Some lawyers might tell their clients in this situation to just keep their head downwards, and hope that the prosecutor forgets about him, or gets too busy to come up back to the case.

Some lawyers might tell their clients in this situation that it is best to confront the prosecutor, in society to get some closure either way.

That'll be between you and your lawyer, as at that place are pros and cons to both strategies.

Wrap Up

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Scan our free legal library guides for more information.

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Source: https://lawstuffexplained.com/do-prosecutors-always-file-charges/

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