Will Your Case Be Dismissed if the Victim Wants it Dismissed; What to Expect at Your First Court Date

The criminal justice system operates on rules that often surprise those caught in its machinery. Whether you're facing charges or supporting someone who is, understanding these realities can make a critical difference in case outcomes.

Most people believe that when a victim wants charges dropped, prosecutors simply comply. The truth is far more complicated. As we explore in this episode, victims don't control criminal prosecutions—they're essentially witnesses in cases brought by the state. While victim cooperation matters, prosecutors make the final call on whether cases proceed. This misunderstanding leads many defendants to false expectations and missed opportunities for effective defense strategies. We break down what actually influences dismissal decisions and how attorneys work within these constraints.

What happens at your first court date? Many expect immediate resolution or feel pressured to accept whatever offer is presented. Instead, these initial appearances are primarily administrative, with judges confirming attendance and attorneys beginning negotiations that typically span multiple court settings. Making uninformed decisions at this stage can have lasting consequences. We walk through exactly what to expect, how to prepare, and why rushing to resolution rarely serves your interests.

Perhaps most crucially, we tackle the dangerous myth that innocent people should freely speak with investigating officers. Recent firings of San Antonio police officers for falsifying statements and other misconduct highlight why even truthful statements can be twisted or misrepresented. The alarming conditions at Bexar County Jail—with eight deaths already this year—further demonstrate why protecting your rights from the beginning is essential. Don't navigate this system alone. 

If you have questions about anything we say in this podcast or if you're being charged with a crime in the San Antonio area, call us at 210-775-0852 or click the link below to schedule a free consultation.
 
 https://seanhenricksen.com/schedule-consultation/

Click the link below to receive 4 Things You Should Do If You've Been Arrested:
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You can also find out answers to some of your questions on our Youtube page:
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Sean Henricksen Law Firm

sean@seanhenricksen.com

210-405-6410

106 S. St. Mary's St., Ste 445

San Antonio, Texas 78205

www.seanhenricksen.com

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Episode Overview
• 0:59 Can Victims Get Cases Dismissed?
• 2:30 What to Expect on First Court Date
• 4:10 Why Not to Talk to Police
• 5:32 SAPD Officers Fired and Jail Issues
• 9:03 Closing and Contact Information

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome back to another episode of what to expect when you're arrested. This is your host, sean Hendrickson, from the Sean Hendrickson Law Firm, where we help good people like you avoid the devastating consequences of criminal charges. We've got a few topics we're going to talk about today. First off we're going to talk about is a case going to get dismissed just because the victim wants it dismissed? We'll talk about what you should expect on your first court date and we'll also talk about whether or not you should talk to the police if you're innocent. After that, we do have some things that are in the news. There were a couple of officers that were fired and the jail was found not to be in compliance, so we'll talk about that First off. Before we get to that, I do have a free download for you. It's five things you should be doing if you've been arrested. If you click down in the show notes below, there's a link there. If you click on that, we'll send that right out to you.

Speaker 1: 0:55

First off, I do want to talk about a topic that I get a lot, or a question I get a lot. If a victim wants a case dismissed, does that mean it's going to get dismissed? Wants a case dismissed. Does that mean it's going to get dismissed? And the short answer is no. Ultimately it's up to the state to decide whether or not to arrest somebody. So that'd be the police making the decision about whether or not to arrest somebody. And if they do, then it's up to the prosecutor and the district attorney's office to make the decision about whether or not they're going to dismiss the case. The victim or alleged victim. On a case like in an assault case or something like that, their role is that they would be a witness at trial. So if the case was to go to trial, then the state would call them as a witness to testify to try and prove that the defendant is guilty, and that's their whole role. Ultimately, there are things that a victim can do that make it more likely that the case can get dismissed, and that's going to vary between different counties because every district attorney's office handles things a little bit differently. There are affidavits of non-prosecution that work in some cities and some counties. In Bexar counties those don't actually work very well to get a case dismissed. But that's why it's important to find a good attorney who knows how to get these cases dismissed and who is willing to work with a victim, because there are things that they can do to make it more likely that the case does get dismissed.

Speaker 1: 2:23

Something else I wanted to talk about is what you should expect at your first court date, whether you're being charged with a family violence case or really any other type of case. Normally a case is going to take several court settings to be resolved, unless it's like a traffic ticket, but anything higher than that. There's going to be multiple settings normally. I normally recommend against accepting a plea offer on the first court date just because there's so much that's unknown at that time. The DA's office usually hasn't done much work on the case at that time. So Normally you should plan on being there early, because getting through traffic, getting through security, finding the courtroom it always takes longer than it feels like it should. So try and get there early and when the judge comes out, they're going to call out everybody's name who's got a court set for that day, and you'll stand up and let the judge know that you're there and that's pretty much all there is for you to do. It's going to be your attorney that does the rest of the work, so they're going to be the ones who will talk with the prosecutor, discuss whatever issues that are made. If the prosecutor makes an offer, your attorney will relay that offer to you and if your case does end up getting reset which is what normally happens then your attorney is going to be the one who will handle getting that case reset and getting you the information on whether there's a court date already set or if that's something that's going to come by email. Really after you let the judge know that you're there. It's just kind of a lot of waiting around and I try and get people in and out as quickly as possible, but there are other attorneys who may have a lot of other cases set in other courtrooms and so it can take a while to get out, depending on the situation.

Speaker 1: 4:05

Another question that I hear a lot is should I talk to the police if I'm innocent? And my answer to that is almost always going to be no. If you're being investigated by the police, then I almost always recommend to exercise your right to remain silent and demand to speak with an attorney. You've got those constitutional rights and there's a reason that you have those rights. If the police are investigating you, then they've got some reason to believe that you committed a crime. That could be something like somebody telling the police that you assaulted them. That could be something like somebody telling the police that you assaulted them, or it could be them pulling you over and smelling alcohol in your breath, and so they're investigating you for that reason. They've got some information that you've committed a crime and they're trying to see if they can corroborate that information. And the more you talk with them even if you're not making outright admissions the more of that information that you corroborate, the more likely it is that they're going to take you to jail and charge you with a crime. If they can't corroborate any information, if they just have a hunch or something, some low level of suspicion, then you get to walk away without having to go to jail, and that's what I always recommend, even if they were going to arrest you anyway, because they have enough information to arrest you. If they are questioning you, then they're trying to build up their case against you, and that's why I always recommend talking with an attorney before you make a decision about whether or not to talk with the police.

Speaker 1: 5:32

We did have some information that came in the news recently this week. So there were two officers from SAPD that were fired and they were fired for separately. It wasn't like a joint firing, but essentially there were sexual harassing comments that were made. There was an officer who was lying on written statements and one of the officers wasn't turning on their body cam and one was making false statements in some statements that he made regarding a case. And I wanted to mention this for a couple of reasons. First off, it's important for your attorney to know what officers are being fired, because if those officers are important witnesses on your case, that's important information that we need to know, because if that officer was going to be a witness that was required to prove up your case, this could be a reason that your case could get dismissed.

Speaker 1: 6:27

The other reason that I wanted to talk about this is for us to be aware that there are officers out there who are relying on statements, who are not turning on their body cam when they should be. And both of those things are very important because when I look at a police report, I see this as the officer writing his version of what happened, and police reports are always written in a way to support the officer's decision to make that arrest. What I really wanna look at after looking at the police report is. I wanna look at the body cam to see if those two match up. There have been a lot of times where I've read a police report and I've thought we've got no chance of winning this case, and then I look at the body cam and it's just completely different. There's so much that's left out, there are things that are mischaracterized, and that's why it's important that we have both of those pieces of information.

Speaker 1: 7:25

The other thing that I wanted to talk about was the Bexar County Jail. Recently, there was the eighth death this year that happened in the Bexar County Jail, which is a much higher number than we should be having. Ultimately, right now we have a jail that is not a good jail, and I recommend people who are arrested to try and bond out as quickly as possible, because the Bexar County Jail is not a place that you want to be. It's not really like a tough love situation or anything else, like letting people sit in jail for a little while. My recommendation is always to try and get them out as quickly as possible. One it's just a terrible environment to be in where their life could be at risk, but the second is that the longer somebody's in jail, the harder it is for us to get a good result for them. Let's say, there's somebody with, like, an assault case or some other type of a case where we've got a good case and this case should ultimately end up getting dismissed. We've got a good case and this case should ultimately end up getting dismissed. If the state makes an offer where that person could get probation, they're much more likely to take that probation offer just so they can get out of jail, even if their case is likely to get dismissed later on, because people don't want to be stuck in jail, especially when you have a jail environment like ours.

Speaker 1: 8:41

If you have any questions about any of the topics that I talked about today, or if you've got something that you would like us to discuss or a question that you'd like us to have answered, if you go in the show notes, there is a place there where you can send us a message directly. You can also email me. My email information is in the show notes as well. It's Sean at SeanHendricksoncom. Information is in the show notes as well. It's Sean at SeanHendricksoncom. Or you can give us a call at 210-405-6410. And lastly, if you have a case here in San Antonio, feel free to schedule a free consultation. There's another link in the show notes for that. We'd be happy to discuss your case with you and let you know how we may be able to help you out. I hope that you have a great day.