What is the difference between dismissal with and without leave by district attorney?
I think you are talking about a nolle pros.. More than likely the dismissal was with leave to refile. Without leave would be akin to w/ prejudice which means the court has dismissed and the district attorney can not bring it back. I see this most often in felony cases and they are seldom brought back unless there is a plan behind it, or the state suspects that their may be further issues with the defendant. Actually it can be done “with leave” or without prejudice for a number of reasons. A lot of times it is when there are witness or evidence problems with the prosecution at that time. Or they may do it to get around speedy trial issues, or to avoid a preliminary hearing (they can then direct indict and avoid the prelim in some states), or as part of a deal (where they defendant pleas to some charges and the others are dismissed pursuant to the ‘deal’). The only rare defense is if the bringing back of the charges is in bad faith, but that is tough to prove because many judges are pro-
