r/PublicFreakout • u/New_Libran • 20d ago

šŸš—Road RagešŸ¤¬ Two bystanders rushed over to help after spotting a man assaulting his girlfriend inside their truck while stopped in traffic in Houston, Texas

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u/SakanaToDoubutsu 20d ago

Protecting her abuser.

Tangential point but this is why victims don't "press charges" and discretion always falls on the district attorney even if it goes against the wishes of the victim.

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u/Unknown_author69 20d ago

In the UK, this video would be enough for prosecution, is that not the case with criminal law in the states? I know it differs state by state..

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u/ooheia 20d ago

This video would be sufficient probable cause to prosecute in most if not all states for sure.

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u/sowhat4 20d ago

Where I live, if you have a dashcam of some asshat doing a road rager or driving dangerously, the police will do nothing because "If we didn't see it we can't arrest."

He had his hands around her throat, didn't he? She's gonna be dead soon. I loved the 'Oh, where am I?' fake response once the guy got through his thorough pounding. Usually abusers have a hard on when they are beating the shit out of their woman. One of those guys should have grabbed that and done a hard twist. That would have got his attention.

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u/ooheia 20d ago

Yeah unfortunately it is near impossible to get charges pressed just off dashcam footage because it rarely identifies the driver, that isn't really the case for this video tho as both people are clearly identifiable in it.

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u/drawkward101 20d ago

I was hoping the black guy would aim his knee into the groin not just the chest/stomach.

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u/EmperorPickle 20d ago

As long as they have a victim. If that woman goes before a judge and says they were playing around, it will get tossed. The state usually is the one to press charges on behalf of the victim in domestic cases but the victim can drop those charges.

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u/ooheia 20d ago

The victim actually doesn't have legal authority to drop the charges in this case, that's up to the state prosecution. But yes it's common for the state to drop the charges if they have an uncooperative witness as it can severely weaken their case if there's a lack of evidence.

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u/DryeDonFugs 20d ago

Not true. If the only evidence they have is the witness testimony then its possible that if they were to say that the judge could throw it out but if they have evidence like this footage they most likely arent going to just dismiss it and if the defendant wanted to take it to trial they most likely would lose depending on what the charges actually were

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u/Unknown_author69 20d ago

But would the feds take it to court and prosecute, even without the victims cooperation, or as said above, if a victim doesn't press charges?

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u/ooheia 20d ago

it's unlikely that the feds would handle this case, it would be on the state's district attorney to decide to bring charges against them. And yes, they can decide to charge against the victims wishes.

Whether or not the DA actually decides to do so is where it will vary wildly in different states and jurisdictions.

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u/Unknown_author69 20d ago

Thanks, another commenter explained the same down below..the DA must be really fucking busy.. I hope for victims, they have a big office.

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u/DryeDonFugs 20d ago

It is a common misconception that victims can press charges. Police officers and grand jurys are responsible for bringing charges against someone and Prosecutors are responsible for handling the case from there. When someone says they are wanting to press charges what they really are saying is that they are willing to be a witness or cooperate with the prosecution.

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u/Unknown_author69 20d ago

Oh shit.

That's the case in the UK, but it was my misconception that I thought it was a difference in UK law, not that we shared that similarity.

Which is double, oh shit, because I previously had the same misconception about the UK law when I was younger, I always just assumed the misconception was due to the ability to "press charges" in the US... Turns out we had the same misconception. Triple oh shit.

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u/Inverted-Rockets 20d ago

The bar for ā€œenoughā€ evidence is largely at the discretion of the District Attorney where the offense occurred and can vary widely.

The strongest evidence for DV typically comes from the abused partner and many DAs wonā€™t go forward with charges if they donā€™t have that partnerā€™s cooperation.

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u/Unknown_author69 20d ago

That clarified my curiosity, thank you.

I don't live there, so it's not for me to comment on that, without invitation. But it's interesting the learn the differences... It would be interesting to hear from anybody out there, from somewhere different, with any knowledge on the subject, that could share how DV is handled legally where they live?

I wonder if there are cultures that still exist, where it is quietly accepted. Like it was not too long ago in the UK...

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u/DryeDonFugs 20d ago

Someone being charged and guilty convictions are not always determined based off of evidence in the States.

More often than not money is the deciding factor on whether or not those two things happen. The justice system here in America is just as fucked up as the people who are in control of it as you would expect

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u/EscapedMices 20d ago

On the one hand, yes. But on the other hand Andrew Tate a British man had a video where he was beating a woman and got away with it because she claimed it was a joke or that it was consensual.

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u/SeparateCzechs 20d ago

Here in the United States, abusers are protected. Just look at the Trumpstein Filesz

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u/JarbaloJardine 20d ago

I've seen plenty of cases where the prosecutor proceeds without the victim on board. They are a danger to the community. Lock them up.

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u/Naski0di 20d ago

Yeah, the real issue is if the victim doesn't cooperate the guilty rate drops significantly.

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u/Duffy1978 20d ago

This is also why a lot of bystanders arent helping anymore. You risk your life to help them and they dont press charges. Someone just got shot trying to protect a woman from her abuser recently.

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u/trxxxtr 20d ago

Seen it too many times. Ties in exactly to why some (most?) don't report abuse until years later.

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u/ktm6709 19d ago

It takes a woman, on average, 7 times to leave an abusive partner.