Questions tagged [prosecutorial-discretion]
The prosecutorial-discretion tag has no usage guidance.
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Can you ever be certain that you will not be tried for an alleged crime?
Suppose someone is involved in a self-defense altercation where the other party ends up dead. As far as I understand this could result in one of the following outcomes:
The police investigate and a ...
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Is prosecutorial discretion subject to the public sector equality duty?
The Equality Act 2010 creates a duty on public sector entities to have consideration for equality in all decisions they take. Does this bear on prosecutorial offices and their exercises of ...
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In American criminal law, do prosecutors who seek to prosecute a defendant need to have evidence of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt?
Would the judge in a criminal trial consider a prosecutor's statement that some evidence is representative of a defendant's guilt is a false statement by seeking the evidence to be inferred as ...
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prosecutorial discretion and selective prosecution?
Have there ever been any selective prosecution defences that have been successful ? A lot of news outlets claim that various racial groups are disproportionately targeted by prosecutors while framing ...
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Must the DPP necessarily, and is it typically, informed of prosecutions undertaken by parties other than itself?
The fundamental curiosity underlying this question was piqued by this provision:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1985/23/section/6
And a wondering as to how often it is invoked, which raises two ...
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Can a decision to prosecute be judicially appealed?
Meet Charlotte. Charlotte is suspected of a crime, in respect of which a decision was made that it was sufficiently in the public interest so as to charge her.
Charlotte meanwhile disagrees with this ...
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When does an officer's discretion end, and where does an officer's duty begin?
User6726's answer to this question seemed to imply that an officer's discretion was endless; that no matter what the situation, they could always decide not to intervene. That seems highly unlikely to ...
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How much of law enforcement is discretionary?
When I look at the Cannabis situation in the US, I find that Cannabis is still a Schedule 1 drug under federal law.
However, such a law is not enforced.
So I wonder, how much of law enforcement is ...
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Does qualified immunity protect p. officers from civil liability if found to have abetted conspiracy or maliciously falsified a criminal report?
Is there any cases that decided this question? Can the DA be sued if they know or should know and maliciously prosecute regardless in such a case?
Primarily interested in the State of California.
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What legal recourse do citizens have when law enforcement refuse to address crimes for political reasons?
This is a bit of follow-up to this situation, although the question is different and things got much worse.
According to a recent poll, 40% of San Francisco residents are considering moving out of the ...
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In the US, what are the steps that lead to prosecution (or otherwise)?
In the US, what are the steps that lead to prosecution (or otherwise)?
By way of example
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif. ) traveled to Minnesota this weekend,
urging protesters to "stay in the ...
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Can a company safely rely on a government agency announcement that a law will not be enforced?
Intermittently, a government agency, possibly in response to an executive order, will officially announce that some law or policy won't be enforced during some time period. Some such announcements ...
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What happens if a prosecutor refuses to file charges?
Inspired by the answer to a previous question I asked.
Let's say Alice assaults Bob, and Bob goes to the police. I gather from the answer to the linked question that what happens in principle is that ...
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Will police arrest the perpetrator if the victim doesn't care about the crime?
Say someone steals from a store. This is recorded and reported by an employee, but the owner doesn't care.
Will police only arrest the perpetrator if the victim cares? Is it necessary for the victim ...
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Has punishment for precedent-setting decisions ever been recognized as retroactive enforcement of a new law?
When a court sets a precedent, it is effectively creating a law (case law). This means that the law (or a newly clear interpretation that can only now be relied on) did not exist prior to the courts ...
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To what extent can the government saying "we won't prosecute X" be used as a defense?
Suppose the DOJ says that they won't prosecute anybody for doing X. John Doe then does X, and the DOJ prosecutes Doe for it.
Can John successfully use the defense of "the DOJ said they wouldn't ...
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Does charging a defendant with more than can be proven confer some advantages to a prosecutor in the US?
Sometimes in criminal cases with a lot of media attention it seems like the charges brought against the defendant are much more ambitious than the public evidence and circumstance would support. Of ...
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Is there a limit to the number of trials on a criminal charge permitted due to hung juries?
In a jury trial for a criminal charge, SCOTUS recently ruled that a guilty verdict must be unanimous.
In (almost) every state a verdict to acquit a criminal defendant must also be unanimous.
If a jury ...
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Technically, can the prosecutor have advocate? [closed]
I understand, probably for many of you, lawyers, the article you’ve read is ultimately crazy, but I just thought: if everyone is equal before the court, can prosecutor use the services of a lawyer (...
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Does or should a prosecutor in the US interview the victim and the suspect, if they are physically available, to file charges?
Does a prosecutor ought to interview the victim if physically available and the suspect if physically available to file criminal charges (in the US)?
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Can a discrimination act be a charge filed by a prosecutor?
Can a discrimination, e.g. based on gender, race or age, charge be filed by a prosecutor or a prosecutor's office in the US?
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Can the state change its mind about dropping charges?
If a person is indicted on criminal charges, but before trial the state decides to "drop the charges," can the state later bring the same charges?
I'm actually not even certain what formal actions ...
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Is it legal for a District Attorney to choose a policy to not prosecute certain crimes?
San Francisco DA announced that he won't prosecute certain crimes like public camping or public urination (second source). "San Francisco's new district attorney has chosen social justice over the ...
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Are there any laws against political persecution in the west?
It has been asserted that Julian Assange is being persued by the US, Sweden and the UK for political rather than legal reasons.
For example:
Demasking the Torture of Julian Assange
Abuses Show ...
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Is a corrupt Attorney General able to quash any and all Federal investgations?
(I'll try to ask this in as non-biased way as possible)
If an Attorney General is part of a corrupt administration, would he or she be able to quash any and all Federal investigations related to that ...
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Can the jeopardy of being judged be fought against in court?
Can the right to take people to the court be itself subject to judicial challenge?
In other words, if someone attempts to sue you, would you ever be able to successfully argue in the court to prevent ...
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Can prosecutors add charges to get an individual to plead guilty?
Can a prosecutor add additional charges to pressure a defendant to plead guilty to the original charges?
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Why was the decision to make a non-traditional prosecutorial judgement unclear at the start of the 2017 Special Counsel Investigation?
Background
One comment on this question about Robert Mueller's 2017 Special Counsel Investigation inquired about a specific aspect of the investigation. This aspect related to the prosecutorial ...
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Logic or reasons for DA not bringing felony charges after an arrest warrant is issued
What might lead a district attorney to decide not to bring felony charges after an arrest warrant is issued? Are decisions not to press charges influenced by pending, unrelated felony charges in ...
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Why are Florida prosecutors filing for manslaughter rather than murder in the case of Michael Drejka?
Florida prosecutors filed to charge Michael Drejka with manslaughter rather than murder in August 2018.
If convicted of manslaughter, Drejka can be sentenced to up to 30 years rather than receive ...
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Virginia prosecutor changed/added charges to original charge that one pled guilty to
I was charged by the police with two charges that were felony 5. I plead guilty.
When I went to court the prosecutor added another charge and changed the felony 5 charges to felony 2 charges. The ...
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Why did Jim Garrison investigate the Kennedy assassination?
Mr Garrison was the district attorney (DA) for the state of New Orleans and the assassination of President Kennedy happened in Dallas, Texas.
Why would a New Orleans DA be interested in this? Isn't ...
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Does a prosecutor have any legal resource to avoid aplying a law which is unconstitutional?
Recently in Argentina a prosecutor suggested that even if she doesnt like a particular law (which might be unconstitutional) she has no choice because she has to apply it. is this so?
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What is involved (other than financial + evidence aspects) in bringing a private prosecution in the UK?
Suppose a person commits a financial crime in the UK (say theft, insider dealing, false accounting, fraud, or something similar falling squarely within criminal law). For whatever reason there is no ...
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Why would a Canadian Crown Prosecutor continue with a proceeding with no evidence?
If a proceeding has only conflicting witness testimony for the Crown, but forensic evidence that proves the defense s case, why would the Crown proceed?
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admissible or not
The prosecutor has the conversation from an anonymous app, only from the device of the accuser. Has nothing from the accused and the conversation doesn't identify the accused. The only thing ...
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Can federal prosecutors go against the Justice Department's interpretation of the law?
Suppose that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has a belief or opinion about what the proper interpretation of a certain statute or Constitutional provision is, and that they have formalized their ...
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Is it unethical for a prosecutor not to try his hardest to get an indictment?
A Grand Jury failed to indict Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot Michael Brown, which led to riots in Ferguson, MO. This my have been due in part to the fact that the prosecutor presented the ...
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Couldn't Comey avoid the whole kerfuffle with a simple question?
Yesterday (6/8/2017) fmr FBI Director Comey testified that President Trump told him during a dinner which the 2 of them had (with no witnesses present) something along the lines of "I hope you can let ...
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Does the President of the USA execute prosecutorial discretion?
Is it legal for the President of the USA to direct an official of the DOJ (say, the Director of the FBI) to drop an investigation, as an exercise of prosecutorial discretion?
This is the case being ...
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Are traffic court prosecutors required to watch dashcam videos before presenting officers witness testimony?
Dashcam video can contradict an officer's testimony or police report, so are prosecutors required to watch dashcam video before trial to ensure the officer's testimony is true?
When a discovery ...
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Can I email the prosecutor?
I want charges dropped against my spouse who was arrested for domestic assault against me. I called the prosecutor to ask him to drop the charges against my spouse. He said he would call me back with ...
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How can people confess to their drug use in a book without any legal consequences?
Using illegal drugs is illegal.
Yet Obama and Steve Jobs confess that freely. Write a book about it.
Imagine if they confess to murder instead. That would be problematic.
So why?
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Are there legal obstacles to an elected official appointing a special prosecutor to pursue his/her opponent?
The current US Presidential campaign has had a lot of mud-slinging and accusations back and forth about violations of the law by the opposing candidate. One has explicitly stated plans to (if elected)...
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please somebody tell me the origin of the words, prosecutor [closed]
Please somebody tell me the origin of the words, prosecutor, prosecution and other relevant similar words please.
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When does the government charge for fraud
I was just curious, how often does the government actually prosecute cases of fraud in court?
Are there parameters that they usually follow when deciding to take a case to court?
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What methods exist to provide relief in criminal cases where the state refuses to prosecute?
In this question it was shown that it is not possible to bypass the States Attorney before the grand jury. But what relief exists in cases where Prosecutorial Discretion might be used to protect ...
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