Can the Police Refuse to Let You Press Assault Charges

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Quoting jk

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I was going to include that possibility. I did not see anything but we both know how these things can hide. So, even if there is such a limitation, is this not now a dead issue since the police have refused to continue any action? It would appear that this is no longer an active case, as far as the police are concerned.

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The section simply says that an officer's investigative report is exempt. So, it does not seem to mandate they release it.

That is also how it is interpreted most often here. While law enforcement CAN release it if they wish, they are not compelled to do so unless it falls under one of the exceptions or is ordered by the court.

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Not arguing, simple saying that is a bad idea. It removes the decision from the entity charged with making the decision and places it into the hands of (not all police are included, present company especially) of a person that is not trained in the law and who (innocently enough) may have no idea of a law that was being broken or the specifics of a law they may not fully understand. Remind me to tell you the story of when I was 16 and the police threatened to arrest me for being in a place I was fully legally allowed to be. The officer was ignorant of the law.

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That is why there is supposed to be a review process within the agencies. Supervisors monitor officer conduct and review reports, from there they are screened for the applicable criteria for submission to the DA and those that meet the local criteria are sent over. It could be that the DA does not want to receive bar fight cases. My DA does not want them, either. We send them over as a sort of "CYA" on our part. That way, when angry victims storm city hall asking why their attacker was not charged we can point to the big white building over yonder and say, "Talk to them!"

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He did earn my respect later when he called me to apologize after he (as I suggested) researched the law I was speaking of and found me to be correct.

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I've been in those shoes myself. Good for him.

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I can see that as a problem too but it still removes the decision from the party that has actual legal training, and the duty to make such a determination.

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The alternative is to mandate DA review for all crimes reported and a suspect is identified, and this would swamp DAs offices. I know some agencies that do just that. It also tends to dilute the quality of the reports and prosecutors tend to be a little more cavalier about dismissing cases from agencies that send every heap o' steaming dog doo over for review. Occasionally a good case gets tossed as part of the latest pile o' turds.

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I don't doubt that. There are avenues to take if a DA does not prosecute a case that a person fervently believes is a righteous case though, at least around here.

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Out here you can only sue the suspect in a civil court. If the DA refuses to file, and law enforcement thinks it is a good case, we can send it straight to the Attorney General's office. That occasionally happens.

If law enforcement refuses to file, then the person can take the matter to the DA directly and the DA can get the report(s) from the agency and make their own decision. However, I have yet to see that around here. We tend to send any case that has minimal probable cause to the DA. Again, it is a CYA measure.


- Carl

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Quoting BOR

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In my state a Police incident report IS a public record.

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It is here as well. But that includes just the general information of the incident and the involved parties (though there are exceptions to this one as well).

Investigative reports - crime reports - are generally going to be exempt so long as they are active in any way.

- Carl

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=cdwjava;355780]The section simply says that an officer's investigative report is exempt. So, it does not seem to mandate they release it.

That is also how it is interpreted most often here. While law enforcement CAN release it if they wish, they are not compelled to do so unless it falls under one of the exceptions or is ordered by the court.

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wow. that is just wrong. there can be inclusions that are harmful to a person. Unless a person has some proof other than the report, that alone could prevent any possible legal action that would be proper.

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That is why there is supposed to be a review process within the agencies. Supervisors monitor officer conduct and review reports, from there they are screened for the applicable criteria for submission to the DA and those that meet the local criteria are sent over. It could be that the DA does not want to receive bar fight cases. My DA does not want them, either. We send them over as a sort of "CYA" on our part. That way, when angry victims storm city hall asking why their attacker was not charged we can point to the big white building over yonder and say, "Talk to them!"

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I see how ya work.;)

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If law enforcement refuses to file, then the person can take the matter to the DA directly and the DA can get the report(s) from the agency and make their own decision. However, I have yet to see that around here. We tend to send any case that has minimal probable cause to the DA. Again, it is a CYA measure.

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there is a state level review. Not many cases even get taken to that level and even fewer are picked back up due to the states AG getting involved. Just an option if the local DA is a bit too political.

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Quoting jk

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wow. that is just wrong. there can be inclusions that are harmful to a person. Unless a person has some proof other than the report, that alone could prevent any possible legal action that would be proper.

I see how ya work.;)

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I suspect this is to prevent people from just making stuff up, reporting it to the police, and then using the report to somehow establish the veneer of credibility to a claim. We see these attempts almost weekly with regards to child custody disputes. One party or the other makes daily or weekly reports of the actions of the evil ex and then comes in wanting a stack of reports for their court hearing next week to show the judge just how evil he or she is! We advise them that their attorney can get them through subpoena, or the court can make a request for the reports.

You would not want all your neighbors to get copies of allegations someone might make about you, would you?

The report can be made available, it is just not as readily available as things like the date, time, location, and summary of a police response.


- Carl

Does it make any difference at all that they both admitted in emails to me that they hit us and neither of us did anything to them? I would think that right there would be enough to prove my case.. We both just held them down until the bouncers kicked them out of the bar.

Also .. I had witnesses.. The other party only had herself , her husband and her sister . That would agree with her side of the story.
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The officer said that because i blacked out after being hit with the bottle and couldn't remember wrestling her to the ground .. that it proved that I had too much to drink... I recall EVERYTHING before and shortly after the hit.. but it was HARD.. it's been over a month and I still have a lump on my cheekbone.

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Quoting amyjo109

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Does it make any difference at all that they both admitted in emails to me that they hit us and neither of us did anything to them?

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The e-mails would have to be substantiated. This would require either an admission by the people sending it, or, search warrants and subpoenas issued to the ISP and at the residence to assert that the e-mails did indeed come from their computers and that there was a good chance that they sent them. Otherwise, they could simply say, "Nope. Didn't send them."

E-mails are NOT rock solid evidence. And, if this is seen as a misdemeanor, that is going to be a lot of officer and court expense to go through for a simple battery.

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We both just held them down until the bouncers kicked them out of the bar.

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If the bouncers witnessed the assault they would make good witnesses ... provided anyone is charged.

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Also .. I had witnesses.. The other party only had herself , her husband and her sister . That would agree with her side of the story.

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That helps. Unless, of course, it lines up to be your friends versus the other parties as bar fights can often line up very predictably that way.

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The officer said that because i blacked out after being hit with the bottle and couldn't remember wrestling her to the ground .. that it proved that I had too much to drink... I recall EVERYTHING before and shortly after the hit.. but it was HARD.. it's been over a month and I still have a lump on my cheekbone.

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Well, if you blacked out as a result of the assault, in my state that would be a felony battery. But, it is always possible that to the officer - and maybe to a DA - you appeared so inebriated that passing out was more likely than being knocked out.

At this point about all you can do is speak to a supervisor at the agency, go straight to the DA, or consult an attorney for a civil suit against the suspect(s). There is almost certainly no way to FORCE the police to take action if they do not want to short of pressure upon the agency of a political nature. Likewise with the prosecutor.

- Carl

They admitted to the officer that they wrote the emails but he said that it didn't matter because even though she said she hit me and I never hit her in the email ..she told him that I just walked up and grabbed her by the hair so she hit me, but she is completely denying the bottle part of it. The witness who told the bouncers the girl hit me with a bottle won't write a statement. it's a mess.. my main problem is that I own a business and her husband has been telling people he's going to throw a brick through the window.. He works at my daughters preschool and in his little threatning email he said I'd better be smart enough to leave it alone.

I am so angry because I tried to tell the girl i didn't even want to talk to her because I could see the look in her eye... but she kept nudging me .. and bugging me . My witness even told the officer that i kept trying to get her to leave me alone..