I Got Arrested But Not Charged. Now What?

Published March 18, 2022

In the US, it’s not uncommon to get arrested but not charged. In fact, out of the more than 7 million arrests in 2020, only very few were prosecuted.

Unfortunately, your arrest record will stay even if you’ve never actually been charged. The police will have your name, the circumstances of the arrest, and other personal information on file. It may not be as serious as a conviction record but it may still affect your employment and housing opportunities.

Here’s what happens when you got arrested but not charged and what you can do about it.

Why Some Arrests Don’t Result in Charges

There are a lot of reasons why arrests don’t always result in prosecution charges. Some of the most common ones are:

1. The case was settled out of court.

A court case usually runs for months or even years. Not to mention that it can be pretty costly for both sides. That’s why, in some cases, an out-of-court settlement is the most practical way forward. Obviously, when both parties decided to settle, no charges will be filed.

2. The crime is trivial.

Statistics say that, in the US, one person is arrested every 3 seconds. With this, you can just imagine how many cases the police, prosecutors, and judges have to work with at any given time. So if the offense is too trivial and no one got hurt or nothing was damaged, they usually won’t waste time on it.

In addition, minor non-violent offenses are usually sent for mediation. This is where the victim and the offender are brought together to come up with a compromise or a solution to their problem.

3. The police couldn’t produce admissible evidence.

Obviously, a case can’t be filed without evidence of a probable crime. For instance, the prosecutor can’t prosecute you for murder if no body is found. That’s why when the police can’t produce admissible evidence for a crime, they can’t press any charges against you.

4. The victim decided not to press charges.

As mentioned, a court case can drag on for months or years. And if the offense is too trivial, the victim may decide it’s not worth all the stress of a full-blown court trial.

5. The offender agreed to testify against someone else.

If the offender didn’t play a major part in the crime, the police might convince them to become a witness instead. Being a witness, as we know, offers a certain level of immunity. So most of the time, they don’t get charged.

6. The prosecutor refused to file charges.

There are instances where the prosecutors themselves will refuse to file charges against the defendant. This usually happens when the crime is negligible and the person has no prior offenses.