How Does a Commonwealths Attorney Decide Which Criminals to Charge?
A. A Commonwealths Attorney has a lot of discretion in deciding which crimes should be charged. In many ordinary, run of the mill cases, the police officers will decide whether to charge you with a crime. In more severe cases, the police officers will investigate a crime and will meet with the Commonwealths Attorney, or one of his Assistants, about the case. The prosecutor then must decide whether to bring criminal charges against the accused, and which code sections are most appropriate. First, the Commonwealths Attorney will analyze the case and try to determine if there are any obvious defects that will get it thrown out of court. Next, the prosecutor decides if there is adequate evidence of the person’s guilt. The prosecutor must consider the amount of evidence, the quality of evidence, and the reliability of the evidence. Further, the prosecutor must consider any redeeming issues present in the case; these issues can include whether the accused acted out of a worthy motive, acted
