**Please DO NOT rely on this blog post to make a decision in your criminal case. Every situation is entirely unique. Please contact our attorneys to schedule a free consultation**
Ultimately, the state will need a witness to prove their case. Sometimes in a he-said-she-said situation, where there is only one witness (the victim), if the victim does not cooperate with the prosecutor it can be extremely difficult for the prosecutor to convict the person.
If a witness does not show up for deposition a number of things can happen, the following are some of the more common: The defense attorney or prosecutor may ask the judge for a continuance in order to attempt to re-subpoena the witness, the state may attempt to proceed without that witness, or the unavailability of the witness can be used to negotiate a better offer or possibly ask (or sometimes force) the state to drop all charges.
The likelihood of any of the above events happening will depend upon how valuable the prosecutor perceives the unavailable witness to be to his or her case. Just because the victim may not be available for trial does not mean that the case will necessarily be dropped, though.
There are many ways a prosecutor may attempt to prove a domestic battery case. There may be other witnesses to the event, like neighbors, who heard or saw things. In addition to witnesses, prosecutors will often attempt to use 911 calls, jail calls (usually of the defendant speaking to family), and photos of injuries.
The attorneys of Soler & Simon have handled hundreds of battery cases. Please call our law firm to schedule a free case evaluation where we will review your case in detail and answer all the questions you may have.
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