Legal Question in Criminal Law in Washington

4th degree assault

In a 4th degree assault charge can I ask for the case to be dismissed at a readiness hearing due to the fact of No evidence on the prosecutors side that a crime was even committed. The only thing the prosecutor has for leverage is a police report that claims nothing but a he said she said from both parties. I.e. one says he did this to me. But there is no proof of any marks of an assault, nothing and the other says they did nothing but have an argument. The police report also claims that there was no evidence that an assault took place only an argument. How would I ask to get this dismissed?


Asked on 2/19/08, 4:20 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Harry Steinmetz Law Office of Harry S. Steinmetz

Re: 4th degree assault

You can always ask, but I doubt you will get a dismissal. The "he said, she said" scenario is why they try cases. The statement from one person is evidence and that is sufficient for the prosecution to proceed. Then a jury must determine the credibility of the person making the statement and based on that will determine guilt or not. Essentially, this is why people hire lawyers. We deal with this kind of issue all the time.

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Answered on 2/19/08, 5:15 pm


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