Not all criminal cases have a victim; In these cases, however, the alleged victim plays a crucial role.
Whether the person was allegedly the victim of robbery, domestic assault, or some other type of crime, the importance of the victim’s cooperation is essentially the same.
So what happens when the victim withdraws? Omaha criminal defense attorneys at Petersen Law Firm explain what usually happens when a victim withdraws or refuses to cooperate.
The importance of a sacrifice
There are several ways that criminal offenses can be categorized. One way is to divide crimes into crimes with victims and crimes without victims.
Although it can be argued that all crimes involve a victim in one way or another, some crimes have unambiguous and obviously identifiable victims, such as: B. Domestic violence, robbery, embezzlement or assault.
In these crimes, the state typically relies on the victim to testify in court, if appropriate, as the victim usually plays a role in proving one of the elements of the crime.
For example, Nebraska Revised Code 28-324 defines the offense of robbery as “A person commits a robbery when, with the intent of stealing, by force or force or fear of fear from the person, takes away money or personal property of any value from the person whatever. ”
One of the elements of the robbery crime, therefore, is “from someone else’s person”.
In any criminal prosecution, the state (through the prosecutor) must prove beyond doubt every element of the crime in order to convict the accused. For this reason, an alleged victim plays a vital role in any criminal proceeding.
When the victim withdraws or refuses to cooperate
Sometimes an alleged victim withdraws his testimony or refuses to cooperate with prosecutors.
These are not the same, although they often have the same effect on the case.
If a victim withdraws, it means they are rejecting or amending the original statement they made to the police.
For example, if the alleged victim originally identified the defendant as the perpetrator but now says it was the defendant Not the perpetrator, that is an example of revocation.
A victim can also simply refuse to cooperate with the prosecutor.
This often occurs in domestic violence cases where the defendant and the alleged victim have “reconciled” and the alleged victim no longer wants the defendant to get into trouble. In this case, the alleged victim refuses to speak to the police or the prosecutor at all.
The prosecutor’s options
As soon as it becomes clear that an alleged victim is withdrawing or refusing to cooperate, the prosecutor must decide how to proceed.
The prosecutor has the power to summon the person and force them to testify in court. However, this can be a risky option for the state.
Once informed, the person will be placed under oath and informed of the penalties for perjury.
In theory, this should cause the witness to answer honestly, but there are no guarantees. Also, no one really knows what the truth is except the alleged victim. If the person tells a different story than the story originally given to the police, it will appear unreliable at best.
With two versions of the story, a jury is unlikely to find that the state has proven beyond doubt the guilt of the accused.
If the alleged victim does not appear to be cooperative, the prosecutor can have him / her declared a “hostile witness”, which gives the prosecutor more leeway in questioning the witness. However, there is still no guarantee that a person will testify as it takes the prosecution to get a conviction.
Given the likely outcome when an alleged victim withdraws or refuses to cooperate, the state is often forced to dismiss the charges unless the case is strong enough to be won without the alleged victim’s testimony. This only happens if there is enough physical evidence and / or testimony to overcome the lack of testimony from the alleged victim.
Contact the Petersen law firm
If you have been charged with a crime in Nebraska, contact an experienced Omaha criminal lawyer as soon as possible to discuss your legal options. Contact in Nebraska Petersen criminal law 24 hours a day at 402-509-8070 to discuss your case.
Petersen was invited to join the National Advocacy for DUI Defense (NAFDD) organization in 2013. NAFDD reviews thousands of lawyers and only selects those who have had excellent results in DUI defense cases. Attorney Petersen was named one of the Top 50 Nebraska Defense Lawyers by more than 5,000.
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