Pressing Charges

I suspect this is very dependent on state law, but in general, I’ve not found that “pressing charges” is a legal concept, for a citizen, anyway.

In most states, the District Attorney decides whether or not to file charges against someone. They can make this decision alone, no matter if the claimed victim of the crime wants them to or not.

To say, “I don’t want to press charges,” is simply to say something like:

• “I do not believe I was the victim of a crime”
• “I will not cooperate with your investigation”

Sometimes, a “victim” doesn’t feel like they were victimized and doesn’t feel like charges should be filed. In other cases, they know a crime was committed, but they don’t want the person charged, so they are effectively saying they will not act like a typical victim by testifying or supplying evidence. (Tragically, this happens in a lot of domestic violence cases.)

But, to be clear, the victim doesn’t get to decide if charges are filed. They can just signal whether or not they want charges filed, and whether or not they will assist in a conviction, both of which will likely play into the District Attorney’s decision.

Sometimes the DA might file charges anyway, over the objection of the victim. Sometimes the DA might not file charges – even if they want to – because they know they can’t get a conviction without the cooperation of the victim.

I found this in an answer on a legal Q&A site:

“Pressing charges” has no legal meaning in California. […] The DA’s office has a “filing deputy” who looks over the incoming investigation reports and decides whether or not to file criminal accusations against a person, and how to frame them legally. The DA does not take his marching orders from the complaining witness. Many times the DA’s office files charges which most people disagree with, and now and again the DA refuses to file charges which laypeople think should be filed. Essentially, once the matter is in the hands of the police, the aggrieved person has virtually no control over how the process unfolds.

On another site:

[…] it will be up to a government prosecutor, not the victim, to decide whether to file criminal charges against the suspect.

A prosecutor will have an easier time building and proving a case to a jury if the victim cooperates. As noted above, the victim’s expected level of cooperation factors into a prosecutor’s decision, but that doesn’t mean the victim’s cooperation always makes or breaks a case.

This corresponds with what I’ve found so far, but I’ll update the question if I run across any other answers.

Why I Looked It Up

I’ve heard the phrase a lot, and I’ve always suspected it didn’t actually mean anything.