Accused with No Charges

My question involves criminal law for the state of: California

My husband and I got into an arguement and I left the house and called the cops. On the phone, I said he had hit me. The cops came to the house, talked to my husband, searced the house and left. On my way home they saw my car and pulled me over. They questioned me about it and I said he had not hit me, we had just had a very heated agruement and there was pushing. They arrested me and are charging me with spousal battery. Can they charge me with that even though my husband and I both said in person there was no hitting and we did not want charges pressed? It doesn't make sense to me.

Apparently someone told them you hit him, or, they saw injuries on your husband consistent with his being struck.

Consult legal counsel ASAP.

- Carl

Pushing is just as much a no no as hitting. ANY level of physical exchange can be charged as a crime. It doesn't need to produce damage or cause injury to be enough to pursue. Heck, even throwing something, even if it doesn't strike the target, or even spitting, can result in charges - especially if in a context of domestic violence.

For the other part of your question, whether or not the parties involved want to be cooperative with the investigation or criminal proceeding isn't relevent to an arrest being made or a prosecutor deciding to pursue charges in a criminal case. When a crime is committed, it is committed against ALL of society, not just the individual victim standing there at the time. The state (being everyone from the police to the prosecutor) pursues cases on behalf of EVERYONE. Think of it this way: if only victims could press charges, then all murderers would get away with it, because a dead victim can't file a police report. So, the state acts in everyone's interests, even when the victim can't (or as seen so often in domestic violence cases, won't).