{"id":15305,"date":"2025-07-23T18:00:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T22:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/?p=15305"},"modified":"2025-07-31T00:42:31","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T04:42:31","slug":"can-the-alleged-victim-drop-the-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/can-the-alleged-victim-drop-the-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Can the alleged victim drop the charges?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"464\" data-end=\"825\">One of the most common questions criminal defense lawyers hear is, \u201cWhy am I still being charged if the alleged victim wants to drop <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-15313 lazyload\" src=\"\/jshared\/img\/icons\/spinner.svg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/CASE-DISMISSED-WHO-DECIDES-IN-NORTH-CAROLINA-300x168.webp\" alt=\"CASE-DISMISSED-WHO-DECIDES-IN-NORTH-CAROLINA\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/CASE-DISMISSED-WHO-DECIDES-IN-NORTH-CAROLINA-300x168.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/CASE-DISMISSED-WHO-DECIDES-IN-NORTH-CAROLINA-1024x574.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/CASE-DISMISSED-WHO-DECIDES-IN-NORTH-CAROLINA-768x431.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/CASE-DISMISSED-WHO-DECIDES-IN-NORTH-CAROLINA-1000x561.webp 1000w, https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/CASE-DISMISSED-WHO-DECIDES-IN-NORTH-CAROLINA-214x120.webp 214w, https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/CASE-DISMISSED-WHO-DECIDES-IN-NORTH-CAROLINA.webp 1312w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/> the charges?\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"464\" data-end=\"825\">It\u2019s a fair question. If the person who called the police doesn\u2019t want to go forward, why would the court system care? In North Carolina criminal court, the decision to prosecute does not belong to the victim.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"827\" data-end=\"1249\">Whether you\u2019ve been charged with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/assault-on-a-female-nc.html\" target=\"_blank\">assault on a female<\/a>, communicating threats, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/injury-to-personal-property.html\" target=\"_blank\">damage to property<\/a>, affray, or a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/violation-of-protective-order-notice-and-intent-required.html\" target=\"_blank\">violation of a Domestic Violence Protective Order<\/a> (DVPO), the State, not the complaining witness, decides whether the case moves forward or to drop charges.<\/p>\n<div class=\"read_more_link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/can-the-alleged-victim-drop-the-charges\/\"  title=\"Continue Reading Can the alleged victim drop the charges?\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the most common questions criminal defense lawyers hear is, \u201cWhy am I still being charged if the alleged victim wants to drop the charges?\u201d It\u2019s a fair question. If the person who called the police doesn\u2019t want to go forward, why would the court system care? In North Carolina criminal court, the decision [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15312,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1992,1994,1995,1417,2007,1993,1997,2003,2005,1080,2004,1987,2006,2002,1996,1990,2001,1991,2000,1998,1988,1999,1989,2008],"class_list":["post-15305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-criminal-defense","tag-50b-violation-criminal-charge","tag-affray-charges-nc","tag-assault-on-a-female-north-carolina","tag-can-i-drop-the-charges","tag-can-the-victim-drop-the-charges","tag-can-victim-stop-prosecution-nc","tag-communicating-threats-charge-nc","tag-criminal-case-continues-without-victim","tag-criminal-charges-mecklenburg-county","tag-criminal-defense-lawyer-charlotte-nc","tag-district-attorney-control-nc-charges","tag-drop-charges-north-carolina","tag-drop-the-charges","tag-how-to-get-charges-dropped-nc","tag-misdemeanor-domestic-violence-nc","tag-nc-domestic-violence-charges","tag-no-contact-bond-condition-nc","tag-north-carolina-assault-charge","tag-protective-order-violation-nc","tag-subpoenaed-witness-nc-court","tag-victim-cant-drop-charges","tag-victim-wont-testify-nc","tag-who-decides-to-prosecute-nc","tag-who-decides-whether-to-drop-criminal-charges"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Can the alleged victim drop the charges? &#8212; Carolina Criminal Defense &amp; DUI Lawyer Updates &#8212;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Charged with assault or domestic violence in North Carolina? The State controls prosecution and decides whether to drop the charges.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/can-the-alleged-victim-drop-the-charges\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Can the alleged victim drop the charges? &#8212; Carolina Criminal Defense &amp; DUI Lawyer Updates &#8212;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Charged with assault or domestic violence in North Carolina? The State controls prosecution and decides whether to drop the charges.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/DROP-THE-CHARGES-IN-NORTH-CAROLINA.webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carolina Attorneys\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Can the alleged victim drop the charges? &#8212; Carolina Criminal Defense &amp; DUI Lawyer Updates &#8212;","description":"Charged with assault or domestic violence in North Carolina? 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The State controls prosecution and decides whether to drop the charges.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/DROP-THE-CHARGES-IN-NORTH-CAROLINA.webp","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carolina Attorneys","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/can-the-alleged-victim-drop-the-charges\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/can-the-alleged-victim-drop-the-charges\/"},"author":{"name":"Carolina Attorneys","@id":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7b1994a08a51b357b94c69492e786113"},"headline":"Can the alleged victim drop the charges?","datePublished":"2025-07-23T22:00:14+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-31T04:42:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/can-the-alleged-victim-drop-the-charges\/"},"wordCount":1791,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/can-the-alleged-victim-drop-the-charges\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/DROP-THE-CHARGES-IN-NORTH-CAROLINA.webp","keywords":["50B violation criminal charge","affray charges NC","assault on a female North Carolina","Can I drop the charges?","Can the victim drop the charges?","can victim stop prosecution NC","communicating threats charge NC","criminal case continues without victim","criminal charges Mecklenburg County","Criminal Defense Lawyer Charlotte NC","district attorney control NC charges","drop charges North Carolina","Drop the charges?","how to get charges dropped NC","misdemeanor domestic violence NC","NC domestic violence charges","no contact bond condition NC","North Carolina assault charge","protective order violation NC","subpoenaed witness NC court","victim can't drop charges","victim won't testify NC","who decides to prosecute NC","Who decides whether to drop criminal charges?"],"articleSection":["Criminal Defense"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/can-the-alleged-victim-drop-the-charges\/","url":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/can-the-alleged-victim-drop-the-charges\/","name":"Can the alleged victim drop the charges? &#8212; Carolina Criminal Defense &amp; DUI Lawyer Updates &#8212;","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/can-the-alleged-victim-drop-the-charges\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/can-the-alleged-victim-drop-the-charges\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/DROP-THE-CHARGES-IN-NORTH-CAROLINA.webp","datePublished":"2025-07-23T22:00:14+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-31T04:42:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7b1994a08a51b357b94c69492e786113"},"description":"Charged with assault or domestic violence in North Carolina? 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