Legal Question in Family Law in Washington
Assualt Charges
I am wandering if you can be charged with assault if the victim drops the charges. My niece has a court date charged with assualting her mother. The mother already admitted to the police at the time of the incident that it was a struggle as her child tried to leave and the mother tried to stop her which resultd in her getting a bruise above the eye\. The child (my niece) left and has been a run away ever since. I am the only family member who has had contact with the child since her disappearance am tring to assist her. The child has been emotionally abused by her mother for years and so this issue has a large ammount of history to it.
Simply though i am wandering if the mother drops these specific assault charges can my niece still be charged/proscecuted?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Assualt Charges
Prosecutor can decide whether or not to "go victimless" - that is, to try the case without the testimony of the complaining witness. It can be done, it has been done.
But the decision to charge is the prosecutor's decision to make, not the victim's. The victim doesn't bring the charges, the state does.
If you want to help your niece, consider talking to a local attorney who practices family law about a third party custody action.
Hope this helps. Elizabeth Powell
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