Asked 7/30/2016 – Harlingen, TX

I was beaten by a person and I did strike back out of instinct. Charges were filed on me, but during the trial the judge found out the whole story rather what was reported. In the end I was put on probation only, and the judge told me I can still press charges on the person. Is this possible even after the law enforcement decided that I word be the one charged. And also how long do I have to press charges, and if this will allow me to get a restraining order.

Answer

Filing an incident report with the police has no bearing on whether you can obtain a restraining order. The term “pressing charges” can be confusing. Ir is the police who decide whether to begin a criminal investigation; if enough evidence is discovered, law enforcement will then refer the case to the District Attorney for prosecution. It appears the police have already investigated this incident and made the decision about who to file criminal charges against. You have the ability to back to the police, but if an incident report and subsequent investigation has already been made, it is questionable that they would pursue anything further.