Quote:
Originally Posted by Sweet N Little
fortunately my court system knowlege has only included speeding /parking tickets but i didnt know a prosecuter could carry on with the case if you wanted to drop it, thats crazy.
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Acutally, it's the decision of the "State" (Michigan, whatever) whether to prosecute. That decision is made through the prosecutor (who is the chief law enforcement agent in each county/parish). If the "complaining witness" or "victim" wants to drop it, the prosecutor can still move forward with the prosecution, and actually subpoena the unwilling witness to testify under oath regarding the crime.
It may seem crazy, but the underlying logic is that the crime committed was against the peace of the State. It's up to the State to enforce its laws and make criminals pay.
Granted, some prosecutors are misguided. Most prosecutors have the attitude that every "lowlife" should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. That is not justice. Justice should be whether or not the Defendant committed the crime.
Probably the best DA in the Country right now is Craig Watkins in Dallas County, Texas. He has created an "innocence" section in his office who deals with cases of wrongly convicted inmates. It's an important effort. So far, Dallas has the highest rate of wrongly convicted inmates in the Country. The major benefit of this project:
eyewitness identifications are extremely unreliable.