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Originally Posted by firstdown
The three people did not press the charges they are whitnesses. He cannot pay them off not to testify that is another crime in its self. Now if he is or is not convicted they may choose to sue him and in that case he could settle out of court. That was the case in the first mj case he was being sued by the other party and th DA was not involved.
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If the police weren't present when the incident occurred (i.e., the police didn't witness it), then the 3 guys had to press charges by filing a report of some kind. If so, they are free to withdraw it, I believe.
http://www.usa101.com/en/qa/?zid=art...&articleId=569
I think, though, that at a certain point the DA can take the case forward without the cooperation of the victims. I'm not a criminal lawyer, though, so I can't comment on how that works. As far as I know, there is nothing stopping ST from entering into settlement talks to foreclose civil liability prior to the criminal trial. My guess is that it doesn't happen often because defendants don't want to admit anything until the criminal case is over.