I put my friend in jail for robbery, but how do I drop charges because they do have undiagnosed mental issues?
I put my friend in jail because they stole $100 from me by force and kicked me out of their house. I think they MAY would have returned it at some point. They refused to give it back for that day though. I did not know the cops would charge with Class C felony robbery though. They are on assisted housing because they do suffer from depression but I don’t think it is clinically diagnosed. If I give the District Attorney my viewpoint and since they have no criminal record is it likely they won’t go to jail for a long time?
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17 Answers
You need to talk to the prosecuting attorney. Has this gone to trial yet?
@VisionaryAdvait there is a policeman name John Pennington that is a member of this site. It would be a great question for him!
Always thought anyone could drop the charges….just tell the police you were mistaken. Hard to have a case without proof and your tesitmony!
Diagnose, appeal. It may have more impact if the victim supports the appeal.
I don’t think the DA is too eager to send anyone to jail for snagging $100.00 from anyone. If you plead your circumstances I would be very surprised that they take this case all that far.
@Cruiser ditto, ditto, and ditto! Cannot even comprehend this happening!
I would wait before i made any changes in prosecuting this person. the police may want to investigate this person for further criminal activity. just because he has a mental issue, does not mean he has not committed other criminal acts toward other people. Charles Manson is a good example. i would suggest dropping prosecution, only after this person has been thoroughly investigated. the district attorney may also require a complete mental evaluation of this person. this cannot be accomplished, if the person is not under criminal investigation/or arrested and a case pending. do not rush to make maybe a wrong decision. it may be just 100 dollars to you, but there may be other crimes associated with this person. go slow.
If the state picks up the case it won’t matter if you drop the charges they will try him anyway.
It is now out of your hands. It becomes an issue of liability to the DA.
If they do not follow up, and this person does something wrong again. They are in deep doodoo.
@VisionaryAdvait how long have you known this guy? Is he a close friend? Or, was! You should know his history if you have known the guy for any length of time!...and, we are talking about only a $100! Seems like all this would have been covered with your first contact with the police. If you know that the guy had problems with depression, seems that you would know a lot of about his history.
With the huge load that most DA are carrying now days, seems strange they would want to prosecute a case involving $100.
When you say by force that he kicked you out of the house; what kind of force are you referring too? Did he hit you?
i would tell the DA that the person is mentally ill, and perhaps they could make a plea bargain arrangement where the person is put on Probation. Probation would monitor the person’s mental health evaluation and treatment. it might end up being the best thing that ever happened to the person (every cloud has a silver lining).
I would get different friends, depressed or not no friend of mine would try stealing from me. If they did it would be splits-ville
What a great use of taxpayer money. That 100 bucks will end up costing thousands in court and legal fees.
$100? Charge them in small claims and the law would have never been in it.
So you want to bring your friend back into society to fend for himself? (Now THAT’S punishment! ) Better to leave him where he is and let the state deal with his mental issues.
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