Getting a Domestic Violence Case Dismissed in Ohio
Ohio defense attorney Brian Joslyn explains how domestic violence cases can be dismissed in Ohio. If you’ve been arrested for a domestic violence offense in Ohio, call Joslyn Law Firm at (614) 444-1900 today for a consultation to discuss your case.
Now a dismissal generally does not come by negotiation, generally, it comes because you’ve pressed the case to such an extent that either the prosecutor can’t move forward with their case because they don’t have a witness, like in many cases where the alleged victim doesn’t cooperate. But there are limited circumstances where, sometimes, a good prosecutor will agree to dismiss the case, not just based on the facts of the case, but maybe because of some effect, that it might have on an individual. If you’re a doctor, a lawyer, somebody with some type of license, someone with some type of employment that can’t take any type of conviction. There are circumstances where sometimes a prosecutor will use their better, judgment, especially with people who have no criminal history, to look beyond just the mere case facts, and of course always with permission of the alleged victim in a case, agree to dismiss a case. Now, this usually doesn’t come free of charge and I don’t mean by money. I’m saying that, generally speaking, they might have you perform some type of anger management assessment, phycological assessment, or some serious of classes to demonstrate that you have learned and rehabilitated yourself from a given situation. And oftentimes, after showing successful completion of that, and sometimes some other things, they’ll agree to dismiss it. Now im not gonna say that happens in the large majority of cases, that’s not the large majority of cases, but it can happen, and it really comes down to the reasonableness of the prosecutor that you’re dealing with, and whether they’re the type of prosecutor that knows how to use and exercise their better judgment in some cases, realizing the collateral effects that a charge can have on someone.
