10.1177/0011128705282496CRIME & DELINQUENCY / July 2006Worrall et al. / PROSECUTORS ’ CHARGING DECISIONS Modeling Prosecutors ’ Charging Decisions in Domestic Violence Cases

Relatively little research explaining prosecutors’charging decisions in criminal cases is available. Even less has focused on charging decisions in domestic violence cases. Past studies have also relied on restrictive definitions of domestic violence, notably cases with male offenders and female victims, and they have not considered prosecutors’decisions to pursue misdemeanor instead of felony charges—or vice versa. In response to these limitations, the authors collected data on prosecutors’charging decisions in 245 domes-tic violence cases filed by police officers in a Southern California city. They then exam-ined the effects of victim, offender, and case characteristics on prosecutors ’ charging decisions. The authors found that (a) arrest and serious victim injuries were associated with prosecutors’charging decisions, (b) criminal charges were more likely in cases with male suspects, and (c) victim preference for prosecution was likely to result in felony rather than misdemeanor charges