A question for lawyers

[illinifan999]

I have a question for any lawyers out there who can possibly help.

This summer my girlfriend got into a fight with 2 other girls, and basically kicked their ass. She was charged with battery. After the fight one of her friends got jumped by the boyfriend of the girl she fought. Fast forward a month, and one of the girls sent my girlfriend a message on myspace saying she wanted to drop the charges but her mom wouldn't let her. Now fast forward to now, and my girlfriend sent her a message asking if she wanted to drop the charges and if not then she understood. The girl responded basically saying that if my girlfriend's friends dropped the charges on her boyfriend, she would drop the charges on my girlfriend.

Now a couple questions.

1.) If my girlfriend printed out the messages or whatever, would she be able to use them in court to basically show this girl wanted to drop the charges or would it not matter?

2.) If she did ask her friend to drop the charges, would she get in trouble? Basically is this illegal in anyway?

Thanks for any help!

[molson]

I work as a prosecutor, and I have this conversation all the time, so here's a quick summary:

To the victim that doesn't want to press charges: "It's the state who's bringing charges against the victim, not you. That's why the case is called State v. Doe, and not You v. Doe." I've tried cases where the victim testifies for the defense.

Now in a practical sense, if the victim doesn't want to go forward in a simple misdemeanor battery, the state will back off (as long as it's not a domestic battery situation, where the victim ALWAYS wants us to drop charges).

Your girlfriend has nothing to worry about, as long as she's not trying to harass/intimidate the victim. If the victim really doesn't want things to go forward, she should contact the prosecutor's office. Depending on the office (and this varies a ton), they may immediately drop the charges, or they may be stubborn and continue. At the end of the day, it's their choice, not the victim's.

I occasionally hear of deals like, "you stop pressing charges and we'll stop pressing charges", but such conversation has little impact on a prosecutor's decision (at least at the misdemeanor level). Personally, I'd look at a man battering a woman more seriously than a woman battering another woman, all things being equal. I wouldn't give a shit what side deals they have in terms of cooperation with the state. But if either or both victims didn't want to proceed, I'd aim to get all cases resolved quickly.

[Crim]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXiW8YipWjo