Legal Question in Criminal Law in Tennessee

Fortunately or unfortunately, the discretion of whether to pursue a criminal prosecution falls entirely within the prosecutors discretion. Many people are under the impression that if a victim chooses not to 'prosecute', the state must drop the charges. That is simply not true. I believe it is probably a common belief due to the fact that prosecutors do often consider the desires of the victim in determining whether to move forward with the charges. For domestic assault cases, however, the prosecution rarely gives much weight to the victim's desire. Statistics show it is too often that the defendant pressures a victim into telling the prosecutor they do not want to move forward.

This appears to be one of those cases where the prosecutor believes moving forward with the charges is necessary, and again, fortunately or unfortunately, that is entirely within their discretion.