Ok so there are some crimes which the state pursues and others where if there is no complainant then they don't do anything. Like I understand that in domestic violence cases the victim has to press charges, so what about something like harrassment? Does the state pursue the charges without a victim or is this one of those scenarios where the state is actually pressing charges instead of a victim? I guess I just don't see how if somebody in this scenario who refuses to press charges, there'd be a victimless crime, and therefore no crime at all, right?
Do you want to press charges is really the equivalent of asking, are you willing to be a cooperative witness? Obviously, to prove some types of crimes, the victim's cooperation is absolutely necessary. For instance, an element of a theft charge is that the property was taken from victim without victim's consent. So, the victim will need to cooperate and testify He did not have my permission in order to successfully prosecute. Some types of crimes really do not need victim testimony, such as murder -- it's reasonable for a jury to assume that the victim did not consent to being killed.
