An individual may be charged with intimidating his or her intimate partner, which will be prosecuted in California as a domestic violence crime, if he or she even attempts to prevent his or her intimate partner from taking part in a criminal investigation or proceeding. Intimate partners in a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender same sex relationship are civilly united, living together, raising children together, dating or were previously involved in one of these relationships. The penalties that face an individual accused of this offense are serious and include jail or prison time and a host of additional consequences.

The accuser doesn’t need any physical evidence to corroborate his or her accusation in an intimate partner intimidation case. This means that the accused could be prosecuted for this charge based on little more that the accuser’s word. Unfortunately, this frequently happens in a relationship that is affected by domestic abuse, as each partner will do whatever he or she can to gain control over the other, even if that means making a false accusation based on anger, revenge or jealousy. Many times couples either reconcile or the accuser feels remorse for his or her actions and tries to “fix” the problem by recanting his or her original allegation in an effort to get the charges dropped against his or her intimate partner. This, however, isn’t how the criminal process works, as it is only the prosecution or judge that can drop the charges and a recanting witness doesn’t provide sufficient evidence to do so.

Recanting witnesses are actually quite common in intimate partner abuse cases and, as a result, the prosecution is used to this phenomenon and knows exactly how to proceed under this type of situation. One of the things that the prosecutor will do is hire an expert witness to testify that the alleged victim has recanted his or her story because of the fact that he or she suffers from battered person’s syndrome. The expert will further testify that because of this condition, the witness has been so abused by the defendant that he or she has recanted out of fear for further abuse or because he or she has been threatened by the accused into doing so. Given the fact that the accused is already on trial for intimidation, that argument is likely to carry a lot of weight with the jury.

Recanting witnesses also allow the prosecutor to admit certain types of hearsay that may have otherwise been excluded from evidence. The jury will hear the statements that the alleged victim originally made when he or she first called the police and the statements that he or she made to the investigating officers. The alleged victim will appear so unstable due to these discrepancies that it will be that much easier for the jury to believe the expert’s testimony and rationale for why he or she has recanted. This is why it is critical for the accused to hire a California domestic violence lawyer who understands the unique challenges that a recanting witness raises and how to effectively handle each. A genuine recanting victim can be devastating to the defense if not first counseled by an experienced attorney.

If the accuser decides on his or her own that initiating an intimidation charge was a mistake for any reason, it is imperative that both partners seek legal advice from an attorney who specializes in California DV crimes. The GLBT supportive attorneys at the Kavinoky Law Firm have successfully defended countless domestic violence cases and know how to effectively resolve any evidentiary issues that may arise, including a recanting witness. They understand the many legitimate reasons why a partner, especially a partner involved in a same sex relationship, may recant and will do their best to resolve the situation in a manner that makes their client and his or her intimate partner happy. Contact them today for a free consultation.