Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Yes I recently went to court for my fiance and right now he's being charged with Home Invasion.Now when he went ot court today(11-24-09) the prosecutting attorney and my fiance's lawyer went ahead and asked the judge to reschudule the preliminary. Becausethe accuser was not in court today. Now I thought that if the accuser did not show up for court that they were supposed to dismiss the case. If you could write me back and let me know why this is the way it is and why they couldn't just dismiss it, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time,

Krystal Rose


Asked on 11/24/09, 1:37 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
William Morrison Action Defense Center

Once a warrant has been issued, the People of the State of Michigan (i.e. the prosecutor) become the "accuser". The victim is only a witness and judges almost always grant a continuance or adjournment the first time he doesn't show up for the exam.

Since he failed to show up, the prosecutor will probably subpoena him for the adjourned date and if he fails to show then and he's the only one who can supply evidence of the break-in, the judge might dismiss the case without prejudice to the People.

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Answered on 11/29/09, 4:10 pm


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