Should i press charges against my daughter

On the other hand, some punishments may not adequately discourage future incidents. Detention may not be a fair punishment given the amount of physical and emotional pain a bully inflicts on a victim. Consult with an administrator before rushing into any decision. The emotional side effects also take their toll; you may even consider therapy to help your child through a traumatizing experience.

Each case is unique, so we suggest that you come in for a free case evaluation. We will listen to your story and advise you of the next best steps. We offer our services on a contingency fee basis, so you only pay if we win. To get started on your initial consultation today, contact us for more information. To learn more, call our law firm at or visit our contact us page to send us an email.

Speak To An Attorney Now To stop bullying, adults should: Do: Intervene immediately. A prosecutor must objectively review the evidence and make other objective decisions that can be difficult for a crime victim to step back and take.

If you believe you've been the victim of a crime but the prosecutor or police refuse to pursue the case, contact a local attorney for a consultation about your rights and options. Likewise, if you receive a subpoena to testify in a criminal trial and have concerns, an attorney can advise you of your rights and appear in court with you, if necessary.

It's never advisable to ignore correspondence from a prosecutor or district attorney's office or a subpoena without consulting with an attorney. The information provided on this site is not legal advice, does not constitute a lawyer referral service, and no attorney-client or confidential relationship is or will be formed by use of the site.

The attorney listings on this site are paid attorney advertising. In some states, the information on this website may be considered a lawyer referral service. Please reference the Terms of Use and the Supplemental Terms for specific information related to your state.

Market Your Law Firm. Lawyer Directory. Call us at 1 Pressing Charges for a Criminal Act. Prosecutors, not victims, generally decide whether to press charges against a suspect. But victims still play an important role in charging decisions. The Path of a Typical Arrest In the typical scenario, a crime victim contacts the police, and the police come to the scene or meet with the victim and ask for information. Determining Probable Cause Probable cause doesn't have an exact definition. The police can consider various types of evidence and information in determining whether probable cause exists to arrest someone, including: statements of the victim or witnesses who saw or heard events statements of the person accused of committing the crime physical evidence, such as a weapon or property damage at the crime scene evidence of physical injuries to the victim, and video or audiotape of the incident.

The Roles of the Prosecutor and Grand Jury If the police arrest the suspect, the prosecutor will review the police report and determine whether the government can proceed on the charges. The Victim's Role in Prosecution In determining whether to pursue a case, the prosecutor will consider the victim's statements and expected level of cooperation. One example is a rape shield law, which limits what the defense can ask the victim about prior sexual history.

The prosecutor can also file legal motions to try to protect the victim from having to disclose other personal information. All states have their own rules and resources for protecting participants in a trial. You can learn more about the resources in your state from the Office for Victims of Crime. It can be nerve-racking to speak in public, as well as in a courtroom. In some areas, the local sexual assault service provider can provide you with an advocate to support you during the trial or resources to make the process less intimidating.

You can learn more about these rights and other resources through the Office for Victims of Crime. Learn more about what to expect at a criminal trial. Throughout the criminal justice proceedings, you may want additional support. To speak with someone who is trained to help, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at Or the prosecutor's supervisor could decide that the prosecution office, as a whole, will focus its resources on certain types of cases homicide, drug, violent felonies and not others fraud, bribery, property crimes.

In either case, the decision of the prosecutor or prosecution's office is usually final. For the most part, the prosecutor cannot be forced to press charges. In some cases, political or public pressure might sway the prosecutor to file charges. A prosecutor who's under pressure might bring the case to a grand jury to decide if charges are warranted. While the prosecutor's decision can't generally be overruled, so long as the statute of limitations hasn't expired discussed below , the prosecutor can change his or her mind and file charges later.

If the suspect is in custody jail , prosecutors generally must file charges within 48 to 72 hours of the arrest. In other cases when the suspect isn't in custody , it could take days, weeks, or months to file charges. Even after charges are filed, the prosecutor can still amend change the charges or even drop some or all of the charges.

The ultimate game-stopper is the statute of limitations—a time limit set in statute determined by legislators for filing criminal charges. The more severe the crime is, the longer the statute of limitations tends to be and the longer the prosecutor has to file charges. For instance, in many states, there are no time limits for filing charges in a murder case meaning a prosecutor could file charges even decades after the crime , while the limitations for filing a misdemeanor could be two years or less.

Each state has its own set of rules on statutes of limitations. Once the time limit has expired, the prosecutor can still file the charges, but a defendant can bring a motion to have the charges dismissed.

Judges don't have flexibility on this issue—they must dismiss the case. Let's say the prosecutor files the charges or the grand jury issues an indictment. The suspect—now defendant—will appear before the judge for a hearing to be notified of the charges being filed and the right to an attorney. If the defendant can't afford an attorney, the judge might appoint a public defender. The judge will also evaluate the prosecutor's charges and make a neutral decision on whether the evidence supports the charges.

If bail issues remain, the defendant might argue for a lower bail amount or to be released on the promise to appear O.

At this point, the court will likely set future court dates for pretrial motions and hearings. You can learn more about these hearings and the criminal justice process on our Criminal Law page. If you've been arrested or have been charged with a crime, contact a criminal defense attorney as soon as possible.