Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Prosecutor

I am going to tell you exactly what you said we lawyers would tell you -- only the government can prosecute a criminal case. There are absolutely no exceptions to this rule. The fact that you feel you "need to do" this is beside the point; you have no authority to prosecute a case and no lawyer working on your behalf can exercise authority you don't possess.

Perhaps you want to file a civil case against the defendant, seeking damages for the injuries he caused you. If that is what you have in mind you should look for a personal injury lawyer in your area. But the way your question is phrased and the fact that you posted it as a criminal law question makes me think you really are seeking a private attorney to conduct a criminal prosecution.

If you want the case prosecuted, report it to your local district attorney's office and see whether they want to proceed with the case. If they want to prosecute, one of their lawyers will represent the government and a defense attorney will represent the accused. The victim (and I presume you are the victim here) does not need a lawyer unless there is some danger that his testimony will reveal sensitive information and cause him trouble down the road.

The D.A. may decide not to prosecute, and if that happens then the case won't get prosecuted. (Under some very unusual circumstances the assault could also be a federal crime which your local United States Attorney might want to prosecute, but that probably is not the case here.) The prosecutor's decision not to proceed with the case doesn't mean you get to prosecute it yourself; it means that the defendant will not be prosecuted at all.

There are many reasons why a prosecutor might decide not to pursue a particular case. Sometimes the evidence just isn't strong enough to support a conviction. Other times the witnesses are too unreliable to put on the stand. In some instances the facts just don't add up to a crime, even though the "victim" feels that they should. Sometimes the "victim" is really the one at fault. And in many instances the D.A.'s office just has too many crimes and too few prosecutors to handle them all, so some cases have to be set aside.

The government is your only option if you really want this matter prosecuted. No matter how strongly you feel about it, you cannot hire an attorney to prosecute the case for you.