Legal Question in Criminal Law in Texas

My iPhone was stolen by drugstore clerk. Thanks to surveillance, police recover it from his car that day. I was encouraged to press charges despite having my property returned to me by the police. Turns out charges have been filed by the DA and the thief has an arraignment in August. Now, come to find out my sister is an acquaintance of his cousin. His cousin calls my sister begging to arrange for me to have a meeting with him to discuss this so he doesn't get screwed over by the court system. She also told my sister that it was a mean-spirited move to press charged since I got the stolen property back. Realistically, even if I wanted to, is there even anything I can do now at this point now that it's in the DA's hands? Wouldn�t me changing my story constitute filing a false report? Also, if he pleads not guilty and it does go to trial, what would be the likliehood of me having to be witness at the trial?


Asked on 6/01/11, 1:58 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Cynthia Henley Cynthia Henley, Lawyer

Mean spirited? He stole your phone and the only reason you got it back was because of the surveillance tape - not because he had a change of heart and confessed and returned it. Forget that.

Do not change your story. You might be able to influence what happens by telling the prosecutor how you feel about the case / charge when they call you before trial

As for trial, it is not likely he will go to trial with a surveillance tape. However, if he did, you would have to testify to establish ownership of the phone.

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Answered on 6/01/11, 6:08 pm
Sharita Blacknall The Law Offices of Sharita Blacknall, PC

The complaining witness (victim) in a criminal prosecution has the right to tell the prosecutor their position on whether or not a case should be prosecuted and the punishment if any that the complaining witness believes is appropriate. The prosecutor then makes a decision on whether or not to proceed with the prosecution.

Also, there is a document called an affidavit of non-prosecution which the complaining witness can complete at the prosecutor's office, which states that the complainant is aware of the charges, does not want to participate in the prosecution, and will not hold the district attorney's office liable for dropping the charges.

Filing a false police report is defined as follows:

FALSE REPORT TO PEACE OFFICER OR LAW ENFORCEMENT

EMPLOYEE. (a) A person commits an offense if, with intent to

deceive, he knowingly makes a false statement that is material to a

criminal investigation and makes the statement to:

(1) a peace officer conducting the investigation; or

(2) any employee of a law enforcement agency that is

authorized by the agency to conduct the investigation and that the

actor knows is conducting the investigation.

(b) In this section, "law enforcement agency" has the

meaning assigned by Article 59.01, Code of Criminal Procedure.

(c) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.

Therefore, in order to be charged with filing a false police report the person must have known that the information given to police was false.

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Answered on 6/10/11, 7:12 am


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