What if my wife has been charged with corporal injury and I don't testify? 7 Answers as of December 22, 2011

If a case is going to trial and the DA wants you as a witness the best thing to do is contact your wifes attorney. After telling the truth to your wifes attorney then you need to follow his direction.

Get yourself a lawyer who can let the DA know that there will be a problem with your testimony. If you testify truthfully you will contradict the police report and can be charged with filing a false police report. If you testify the way the report reads and it was an exageration then you will be perjuring yourself. In other words the lawyer tells the DA you will exercise your 5th Amendment privilege - also your spousal privilege although that probably doesn't apply here. I have done this successfully many times. It has never been a problem and the DA always dumps the case. But do not try to do this yourself as you will put yourself in a very compromised position and DAs are very good at talking reluctant witnesses out of their qualmsand right into the witness chair to screw your wife. So get a lawyer. Quick!

Get her an attorney. The victim in domestic violence cases NEVER wants to testify. In fact, they almost always change their story and claim that the whole thing never happened. Depending on the strength of the evidence (911 calls, statements made at the scene, photos of injuries, witness statements, etc.), the DA might still have strong case even without your testimony. If your wife gets an attorney, he or she will be able to examine the evidence and can advise you wife about her options.

The first problem I see is, why would you over exaggerate something like this? Domestic Violence charges are serious enough. I would suggest you have your wife's attorney discuss a plea with the DA. If you were the victim and your unwilling to testify against your wife, than they may severely hurt the DA's case.

Unless the witness is properly served they have no duty to appear at trial. The lack of witnesses is often the reason for a dismissal. If, however, the witness is properly served they must appear or they face contempt of court charges. However, even if a witness fails to appear, the DA and the Court often does not wish to make a victim a victim once again, by forcing them to testify, and will therefore let the matter go.

You can try to avoid being home to get subbed, but once you are subbed you pretty much are required by law to show up in court to testify. Remember that a mail subpoena doesn't become valid unless and until you respond to it by calling the number on the subpoena or picking up a phone call to acknowledge receipt.

You should probably have an attorney to counsel you. It may well be better for you to show up and refuse to testify (there are some special rules regarding contempt in Domestic Violence cases), or to tell what really happened. If you do show up, the court will probably appoint an attorney to represent you, especially if you tell the DA/judge that you don't want to testify. If you don't show, assuming the DA can make the proper showing, your statements to the police may be admitted in the trial against your wife, which could be used to convict her - from what I read in this, just what you don't want. So do yourself a favor and consult with a good criminal defense attorney.