Felony Assault Charge

[seekingadvice2008]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Michigan. I was wondering if a felony assault charge could be dropped because the arresting police agency misconstrued a 911 call. Me & a close friend of mines were talking about some family issues we were both having and it eventually got to the point where he kept repeatedly talking about harming himself or wishing he didn't have to deal with things. I have lost a friend to suicide before & it was eerily similar to some things I had heard them say before. I also have a family member who attempted suicide a few times, but ended up getting over that rough patch in life. Anyways, it totally freaked me out to hear that because I got flashbacks of when my friend had committed suicide and I honestly did not know what else to do. I was genuinely concerned for my friend's well-being and made a call to 911 explaining the situation. He kept talking about how a knife would be such an easy way to end his life and it really made me upset and sad. I explained to them clearly that my friend was talking about using a knife on himself & I didn't know what to do. I went out to my car and sat in there to try to get some air from the situation because I just could not handle it, and I wanted my friend to get some time to think clearly about the reasons he felt that way. I told him to come outside and talk to me in my car because we could ride around and hopefully calm things back down with him. Another reason it struck me so hard is because he has attempted to harm himself in his earlier years, so I did not want a repeat of that situation. Anyways when the police got there, they immediately took him into custody. Mind you, we were not arguing and I did not appear to be in fear at all just sad. They kept saying ma'am, was your friend trying to hurt you with the knife? I said no he wasn't, he was threatening to use it on himself and I wasn't sure what else to do since there was no one else around. They kept saying are you sure, we don't believe you. I responded yes I am positive, I called out of concern for my friend's life! Anyways, they made the claim that I was in danger because he threatened to use a knife on himself and arrested him on felony assault charges. I am very confused about this, but to get to the point, would there be any way they would drop this charge against him? That doesn't make any sense to me at all, why they would assume that I was threatened by him when we were sitting in my car talking. Thanks in advance.

[aardvarc]

I was genuinely concerned for my friend's well-being and made a call to 911 explaining the situation. He kept talking about how a knife would be such an easy way to end his life and it really made me upset and sad.

When 911 hears the word "knife", the rest is really irrelevent - they get officers to the scene ASAP and let them determine who is doing what with the weapon and why. What is told to 911 during the call doesn't matter as much as people think, because it is the officers on the scene who must determine, by what they see, hear, and are told, what's really going on (people lie to 911 all the time, making things sound worse then they are to try to prompt a faster response, or, lying that something isn't too bad because they don't want to be seen as hysterical).

Anyways when the police got there, they immediately took him into custody.

That would be standard procedure. He'd either be under arrest for a criminal charge regarding what he was doing with the knife or threats made, or he would be in protective custody and taken in on a mental health hold for evaluation. Either way, it's reasonably predictable that he was going to be taken into custody.

Mind you, we were not arguing and I did not appear to be in fear at all just sad.

You were in fear for someone - for him, if not yourself. We weren't there, didn't hear your exact words to officers, HIS exact words to officers, or have any unbiased perspective from which to evaluate the situation. We don't even have a copy of the police report on the incident. Thus, as frustrating as it may be, we are in no position to second guess WHY the officers charged him with a crime, as opposed to treating it as a mental health case (although they may be doing BOTH). If he actually HAD that knife in hand, and wasn't just talking about having one, that drastically "ups" the ante - because if he actually had the weapon in hand, there's the "brandishing a weapon" element, and police are going to react with a better safe than sorry response, including the charge (knowing that the state can then plead down from felony assault).

They kept saying ma'am, was your friend trying to hurt you with the knife? I said no he wasn't, he was threatening to use it on himself and I wasn't sure what else to do since there was no one else around.

Ok. So we've established that there actually WAS a knife, that your friend was in possession of it, and was threatening to use it - supposedly on himself.

I called out of concern for my friend's life!

And? Your friend still has his life - so it's all good. Intervention occurred before he was able to carry out his threat of self harm. Unfortunately, when there are weapons involved, the hand-holding types of therapeutic intervention aren't going to happen. When law enforcement has to intervene due to the presence of a weapon, the nature of the intervention is often less than desireable. At that point the CHIEF goal is for officer and suspect to come away without injury, meaning that immediate custody is the answer. And, law enforcement too frequently has to consider the "suicide by cop" scenario that sadly gets put upon them by persons desiring to end their own lives, but have someone else do it for them.

Anyways, they made the claim that I was in danger because he threatened to use a knife on himself and arrested him on felony assault charges.

That may have been their impression at the time. We weren't there, so we have no ability to form our own opinion on the matter.

would there be any way they would drop this charge against him?

That'll be up to the DA. At the very least, it sounds like a reasonably strong "brandishing" case (ie assault in most cases).

That doesn't make any sense to me at all, why they would assume that I was threatened by him when we were sitting in my car talking.

Because most people, including police officers and most jury members, don't sit in a car and talk while holding a knife and making reference to using it. Even suicidal people don't want to die a "bad" (ie painful, prolonged) death, and frankly, a knife is a suspect method, what with all the busses to be jumped in front of, bridges or buildings to leap from, guns that make quick work of things, or drugs that tend to deaden pain before taking life. Knives are an "up close and personal" method of inflicting injury on one's self or others, and they don't typically result in a "quick" death, and since most don't use that method on self, that leaves...well....others. It would also tend to make many officers suspect that you left with this person in a vehicle (NOT GOOD!). Driving a potentially suicidal person around, while they're holding a weapon, is just, well, stupid. There are SO many thing that can go wrong there, versus staying put in a place where 911 could find you and respond relatively easily should things escalate, as opposed to driving around with that person. So yeah, I can see a lot of elements here that make a "I'm only sad for my suicidal friend" seem suspect. Hopefully he'll get the help he needs, and hopefully the jail put him on suicide watch.

[seekingadvice2008]

Sorry if I didn't make it clear because I have seen too many people saying he had a knife. He never possessed a knife throughout the entire incident, he SPOKE of using one on himself. We were both sitting in the car talking when the police officers pulled up. Again, I am sorry for the confusion because he never once held a knife in his hand, just MENTIONED using one on himself. If I felt I was in harm that sounds incredibly foolish for me to let a person get into my car which I could easily lock, but since I did NOT feel threatened we sat in a car away from other company that was around.