If the case is actually rejected, one must obtain a letter from the district attorney’s office stating this. If, however, there has just been a delay in filing, the district attorney’s office may still file charges at a later time. Generally, the statute of limitations to file misdemeanor charges is one year and three years on most felonies.
Full Answer
Understand that there is a difference between the district attorney’s office actually “rejecting” a case or just failing to have it filed by the arraignment date (or first court appearance). If the case is actually rejected, one must obtain a letter from the district attorney’s office stating this.
If, however, there has just been a delay in filing, the district attorney’s office may still file charges at a later time. Generally, the statute of limitations to file misdemeanor charges is one year and three years on most felonies.
A prosecutor can reject a case and instruct the police to investigate further in hopes of strengthening the evidence against you. Or a prosecutor can reject a case outright and terminate further police investigation.
But having your case rejected and being released from jail doesn’t mean that your case is closed. This is because, depending on the crime, prosecutors may have one or several years to ultimately decide whether to file charges.
If prosecutors decline to file charges within the 48-hour time frame, then the person will be released from jail. Given their ethical duty and this small window of time, prosecutors sometimes reject cases, asking police to conduct further investigation before they agree to formally file charges.
And when a person is arrested and taken to jail, prosecutors must decide whether charges are warranted within 48 hours of the arrest, excluding weekends and holidays. [i] This means that if a person is arrested and taken into custody on Monday, prosecutors must file charges against him by Wednesday.
Pre-Filing Services. Even if a person is arrested, he might not be charged with a crime. This is because each decision – the decision to arrest and the decision to file charges – is made by a different authority. Police arrest someone when they believe that he has committed a crime.
Police arrest someone when they believe that he has committed a crime. But only the District Attorney’s Office can file charges against someone. Prosecutors have a duty to only file charges when they believe that the evidence is strong enough to secure a unanimous guilty verdict from a jury (that is, 12 random people from the community).
There are many reasons a DA might reject a sexual assault case. Here are some common reasons, and high-profile cases that illustrate them:
District Attorneys frequently decline to pursue cases that are perfectly viable in the civil court context. Nevertheless, survivors sometimes report feeling as though office officials “disbelieved” their stories or even blamed them for what happened.
Criminal proceedings are aimed at putting the abuser behind bars, while civil proceedings punish wrongdoing through financial channels. Here is what you need to have a civil case:
Answer: When a case is rejected, it means that the prosecutor does not feel that there is enough evidence, at the moment, to warrant filing criminal charges against you. This does not necessarily mean, however, that you are off the hook.
However, if you don’t get an answer in writing, you may have to wait anywhere from 1 to 6 years to see if the prosecution will file charges against you.
If charged as a misdemeanor, prosecutors have up to 1 year from the date of incident to file charges. Penal Code §802 (a). If charged as a felony prosecutors have up to 3 years from the date of incident to decide whether to file charges. Penal Code §801.
A prosecutor can reject a case and instruct the police to investigate further in hopes of strengthening the evidence against you. Or a prosecutor can reject a case outright and terminate further police investigation.
Since you cannot know which choice the prosecutor made unless you obtain a copy of the prosecutor’s written rejection , it would be prudent to assume that the prosecutor rejected the case and instructed the police to conduct further investigation.
If you admitted the probation violation, the D.A. is extremely unlikely to go back and file the new charge as well. In fact, usually, not filing the new case is a part of the deal your lawyer made when you admitted the probation violation, so that should be a dead issue. the D.A. reject does not undo the probation violation. More
If the district attorney has rejected filing a new case, you can still get a probation violation without a conviction without a new case. Probation violations do not require a new conviction.
It may show up as an arrest but regardless, it's not a conviction. You can go to www.doj.ca.gov to request you own rap sheet and confirm how it appears. You can possibly do a 851.8 PC petition for a certificate of factual innocence to seal the arrest, but the are particularly difficult in DV cases and may not be worth the time, energy or money, depending on why you may need it...
You have an arrest but no conviction. It wasn't dismissed, because a reject means it was never filed. Under California law, an arrest with no resulting prosecution is deemed a 'detention only' and NOT an arrest. But it is up to the arresting agency to notify the DOJ and many don't. If you don't receive a 'certificate of detention only' from them within another, you may want to contact them and request it...
In sum, if someone is arrested for a new criminal act while on probation, especially for a crime of violence, the district attorney should charge that person with a new criminal charge (assuming, of course, there is sufficient evidence), as well as handling the case as a violation of probation.
In general, if you think about it, there usually is no good reason for any case to sit in the district attorney's office more than a couple days before the attorney makes some kind of a decision on the case. The attorney should read the case as soon as possible after it comes into the office.
If this arraignment doesn't happen within 48 hours of arrest, then the jail must set the suspect free. This means that if the suspect is in custody, the DA must review the police report and decide which, if any, charges to file well within the 48 hour period, or the suspect will be set free.
This is because any suspect who is in custody has a right to appear before a judge and be informed of the charges filed against him within 48 hours (in California) (not counting days when the courts are closed). (The time frame may vary slightly in other states.)
Sometimes weeks go by without communication only because women aren't quite sure how it's all supposed to work.
The attorney should read the case as soon as possible after it comes into the office. And once having read the case, there's little reason not to make an immediate decision; whether to file the case, reject it, or send the case back for more investigation.
Don't allow a case to sit dormant in the district attorney's office without a decision. No matter which timeframe the attorney is working under, there really isn't much cause for an attorney not to quickly read the case as soon as it comes into the office, and then to make a decision immediately following the reading.
If their plate is full, your attorney may be able to negotiate a deal to have your charges dropped or reduced to avoid the hassle of going to trial.
If the prosecutor decides to proceed with the case despite insufficient evidence, your attorney can file a motion with the judge to have the case dismissed based on insufficient evidence. Fourth Amendment violations – as a US citizen, you’re protected against unlawful searches and seizures by the Fourth Amendment.
When a case is dismissed with prejudice, it’s closed for good. Neither party can reopen the case at a later date, and the matter is considered permanently resolved. On the other hand, dismissing a case without prejudice leaves ...
Insufficient evidence – in some cases your attorney may be able to convince the prosecutor that there isn’t enough evidence to build a solid case, leading to the prosecutor dropping charges before filing. In other cases, your attorney may be able to present compelling evidence that contradicts the police report.
Breach of protocol – prosecutors and law enforcement officials are bound by strict protocol during an arrest, booking, interrogation, bail hearing, or pretrial activities. When your rights are violated due to a breach of protocol, this may serve as grounds to dismiss the case against you. Inadmissible testimony – the most popular example ...
When a case is involuntarily dismissed, the judge chooses to dismiss the case against the wishes of the prosecution. This usually takes place when the defense files a motion to dismiss based on a legal reason, such as lack of evidence.
When a jury fails to deliver an unanimous verdict, the defense may file a motion to declare a mistrial. The judge may ask the jury to take additional time to deliberate and attempt to reach a verdict, but if it becomes clear that an unanimous verdict is out of the question, the judge will declare a mistrial.