If you’ve been charged with a crime, you may be wondering if your case will actually make it to trial or if the charges could be dismissed. A dismissal means the criminal charges against you essentially “go away” – as if you were never charged at all.
Having your criminal case dismissed can relieve a huge burden, so it’s important to understand the signs that could indicate your case is weak and may not hold up in court. This article outlines 10 such signs to look for.
Why You Should Care If Your Case Could Be Dismissed
Getting your criminal charges dismissed completely or reduced significantly is usually the best outcome when fighting a criminal case. It means you avoid having a conviction on your record, harsh sentencing penalties, and other negative consequences that come with pleading or being found guilty at trial.
Even if you hope to plead to a reduced charge, having a weak case against you strengthens your negotiating position with the prosecutor and judge. The weaker the evidence and case against you, the better chance your defense attorney has at getting charges dropped and securing a favorable plea bargain or lighter sentence for any charges that stick.
So paying attention to signs your case may dismissed gives you back some control and optimism during a difficult time, as well as helps guide your legal strategy with your criminal defense lawyer.
1. Mistakes in the Criminal Complaint
The criminal complaint filed by the prosecutor is a legal document that outlines the factual allegations against you to justify the criminal charges. If this complaint contains significant factual errors or shows other signs of carelessness, it may indicate the prosecution does not have a strong grasp on the case.
Some examples of mistakes that could weaken the complaint include getting key dates or details wrong, making claims that conflict with the available evidence, or failing to establish proper jurisdiction.
2. Were You Charged Without Probable Cause?
For any criminal charges to stick, the prosecution must establish probable cause – meaning reasonable grounds to believe that you committed a crime. If the charges were filed hastily without a solid basis, that is a promising sign for dismissal.
Your Sacramento criminal justice attorney can challenge the legal justification for the charges through a motion to dismiss. The case gets tossed if the judge reviews the evidence (or lack thereof) and finds no probable cause.
3. Illegally Obtained Evidence
Evidence is the backbone of any criminal case. If the prosecution relies on evidence obtained illegally – such as through an invalid search warrant or unconstitutional search and seizure – your attorney can file a suppression motion.
If the judge agrees the evidence was illegally obtained, it becomes inadmissible in court. Without that evidence, the prosecutor is often left unable to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and the case unravels.
4. Were Your Miranda Rights Violated?
Before police can interrogate you or use any statements against you in court, they must first read you your Miranda rights. This includes the right to remain silent and your right to an attorney. If the officers who questioned you failed to follow proper Miranda procedures, your lawyer can file a motion to suppress those statements.
Just like with illegally obtained evidence, losing those statements often sinks the prosecutor’s case – resulting in dismissal.
5. Upcoming Preliminary Hearing
After criminal charges are filed, the case typically goes before a judge for a preliminary hearing. At this stage, the prosecution must show they have probable cause and enough evidence to justify moving forward.
If the evidence presented at the preliminary hearing is exceedingly weak, the judge may dismiss the charges on the spot rather than allowing the case to proceed any further.
6. Grand Jury Issues
For more serious felony cases, prosecutors must first get an indictment from a grand jury before they can file charges. This requires convincing the grand jury there is probable cause.
If the grand jury votes against an indictment, the unfavorable ruling indicates their review found the case too weak to proceed – meaning charges are unlikely to be filed at all.
7. Statute of Limitations Expired
Every crime has a “statute of limitations”, which is a legal time limit dictating how long charges can wait before being filed. If the prosecutor fails to file charges before the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations for your alleged offense, the case is forever time-barred.
This makes statute expiration grounds for immediate dismissal. The charges cannot proceed, no matter what evidence is available.
8. Evidence Problems
The prosecution carries the heavy burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt with admissible evidence. If the available evidence is scarce, likely to be excluded, or relies solely on weak eyewitness testimony – it may be impossible for the prosecutor to meet their evidentiary burden.
Without adequate, reliable evidence, going to trial is too risky for the prosecution, and dismissal becomes the safer option.
9. An Experienced Criminal Defense Attorney
As you can see, an adept criminal defense lawyer can often find ways to attack the prosecution’s case through motions practice and by leveraging weaknesses. In fact, an experienced attorney knows how to get charges dismissed even before motions are filed.
Skilled lawyers build a dialogue with the prosecutor, communicate legal defenses, identify holes in the case, negotiate aggressively, and insert doubt in the minds of the prosecution team. By presenting a compelling narrative for dismissal, the prosecution may drop charges preemptively.
10. Prosecutor Already Offering Plea Deal
Prosecutors tend only to offer plea bargain deals early when they have some level of doubt about winning at trial. If a lenient plea deal is coming your way before motions practice really gets underway, the prosecutor likely has concerns about the strength of their case.
This presents an opportunity to pounce by highlighting those weaknesses through legal filings and negotiations. Before you know it, your case could disappear altogether.
Work with a Skilled Criminal Defense Lawyer
If you are facing criminal charges, don’t go it alone. A qualified criminal defense lawyer can meticulously examine your case, identify weaknesses, and form an aggressive defense to get your charges dropped or dismissed.
At The Nieves Law Firm in Sacramento, our experienced attorneys have helped many clients achieve favorable outcomes in weak criminal cases in Oakland, San Francisco, and across Northern California.
