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In TEXAS: When can a DA drop sexual assault charges; when is it too late & the Grand Jury must vote on it?
Anonymous5 views4 answers
An angry girl friend has a man arrested & charged with sexual assault. After a night in jail the man bonds out pending Grand Jury. Then the girl friend admits it was consensual sex. Can the DA drop the charges or must it still go to Grand Jury for a vote? When is it too late to drop charges & Grand Jury has to vote on it?
I would only add to these very helpful answers that if the DA does not dismiss it, and it goes to the grand jury, you (or whoever this person is) should certainly hire a lawyer if you haven't already. Although your lawyer cannot appear in the grand jury proceedings, the lawyer can do certain things to try and prevent you from being indicted. You cannot just assume you will not be indicted, or that the DA will dismiss the charges. As others have said, it all depends on what the prosecutor thinks really happened. One of several factors will be whether the State has any other evidence at their disposal besides her testimony. At this stage, you don't really know what cards they're holding. So be careful, and hire a lawyer.
A prosecutor can dismiss a case at any time - before or after the grand jury meets. But the complainant does not decide whether the case is dismissed or not - she cannot "drop" charges. And the prosecutors hear what they call "buyer's regret" frequently - complainants decide they do not want to proceed.
This man needs a good, strong lawyer immediately.
The District Attorney's Office will pursue criminal charges as long as they believe a crime has been committed and they can prove their case. There is no time that it is "too late." They can dismiss a case before or after you are indicted by the grand jury, or not at all.
A warning - don't get your hopes up that they will drop the charges just because the girl has changed her story. This happens FREQUENTLY in assault and sexual assault cases. It happens so frequently that in of itself, it most often will not result in a dismissal.
If you get an attorney far enough in advance of the grand jury hearing the evidence, they can present evidence to the grand jury in hopes of getting it no-billed (not indicted).
