 Have you found yourself in a situation where you've been charged with a crime and you believe that the victim may not want to see you charge? Well, the problem in this situation is that you may not know, but there may likely be a no-contact order in which you cannot have any contact with the victim. In those situations, it's important to not reach out to the victim directly because you could then be facing new charges of tampering with the witness or violating your pre-trial release. In the state of Florida, the state attorney's office files charges against defendants. It ultimately is not the decision of the victim. However, they rely on testimony and evidence provided by victims in order to prove their cases. So while a victim plays a very important role in the decision to file charges or not, ultimately, it is up to the state attorney's office. That's why it's very important to reach out to us early in your case and retain the assistance of counsel. Once we get involved early, we can then talk to the state attorney's office and let them know of any problems in the case. We'll be really on to help prevent charges from ever being filed against you. Carlson, Meisner, Hart and Hazelett, protecting your rights since 1971.