General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The Starbucks thing... [View all]Lee-Lee
(6,324 posts)Because they are able to gather more facts later than the cops have available to them.
I had a lot of my arrests that ended with the DA choosing not to pursue the charges because either the victims changed their mind or new facts came to light. It doesnt mean my original arrest, based on facts known to me at the time, was not the right decision.
Cops make those decisions based on the facts and knowledge given to them at that time. A big factor was that when the arrest was made the manager was acting as an agent of the company on behalf of them. Quite rapidly the company decided her actions were not representative of their wishes and that changed the whole situation- but after the fact. Suddenly there is no victim willing to press charges, when there was before.
In this case more information came to light, and the managers bosses made clear she was wrong, and the DA did the right thing in choosing not to prosecute the case. But thats a lot of info that the cops at the scene didnt have available to them at that point and time.