Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

Investigation and Interrogation

In a domestic violence situation when does the police questioning change from Investigation to Interrogation?

The reason why I am asking is the police were called to our house by my gf in a domestic dispute in which I was blamed even though she was the aggressor. I had injuries as well but they did not even ask my side of the story and believed my gf side of the story, despite me telling them about her aggressive past.

They asked her to sign and write a police statement. The policeman read her statement and told her she had missed out on a few things she had orally said and asked her to write those as well, which she did. If they initially believed I was guilty then does it become interrogation?

They are collecting info for future purposes..According to Crawford..??

Does the written statement become testimonial in nature? My gf has left the state and will not come to testify. So will this statement come in?

Also if I have proof of her violent past like pictures, ER Report and witnesses, can the prosecutor drop the charges?


Asked on 3/29/06, 1:27 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Charles Homiller Jimison/Homiller, PLC

Re: Investigation and Interrogation

The police officer can not testify to what your gf said, only what you said or what he witnessed. Your evidence of past injuries, etc. has no relevance to the present charge and would serve no purpose for the court or commonwealth attorney. If she does not come to court to testify, the court could either issue a show cause or capias for her, or the commonwealth may elect to nolle pros the charge. I am not sure about your question pertaining to the interrogation, but bottom line is any information they obtain from your gf can be used against you in court, so long as she is there to testify to it.

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Answered on 3/29/06, 2:05 pm


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