Simple assault

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Simple assault

My girlfriend and I got into an argument and she slapped me on the face and I had to call the police and they charged her with Simple assault NJ. I would like to know what her options are since I am not pressings charges. I saw it can be minimum of 30 days in jail if that’s correct how can we avoid that since me and her are working out our relationship. I want to make sure she doesn’t go to jail.

Asked on October 18, 2019 under Criminal Law, New Jersey

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 4 years ago | Contributor

In a criminal case--and DV is criminal--the "state" (i.e. the government, through the prosecutor) not the victim is the party which brings or controls the case. So the victim cannot force the prosecutor to dismiss or drop the case, and the prosecutor could choose to proceed against the victim's wishes.
That said, very often, the prosecutor will drop or dismiss the case if the victim asks him too, since 1) it can be difficult or impossible to win the case with a non-cooperative victim; and 2) prosecutors are overworked as it is--if the victim doesn't want to bring the case, the prosecutor is usually happy to let it go and move on to another case. So the thing to do is to contact the prosecutor's office and explain that you would like the case dismissed.


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