Hey, has anyone here dealt with a situation where the partner changes their mind and tries to take back what they said to the police in an assault case here in Ontario? My buddy went through a rough argument with his girlfriend last year, things got heated, cops showed up, and she gave a statement. Now they've patched things up and she wants to recant it all. He's freaking out wondering if that automatically stops everything or if the case just keeps going anyway. Anyone know how that usually plays out?

These kinds of family blowups seem to happen way more often around the holidays, with all the stress from gatherings and booze flowing. I've noticed over the years that courts and cops take them super seriously these days, probably because of all the awareness campaigns and stuff in the news. Back when I was younger, arguments like that might've just blown over without much involvement, but now it escalates quick and sticks around longer than you'd expect, even if everyone calms down later.

Saw your post and yeah, I've been through something similar a couple years back with an ex. Even if the person recants and says they don't want to proceed anymore, the Crown often decides to keep pushing forward with the domestic assault charges, especially if they think there's still a decent shot at proving it happened. In my case, there weren't any major injuries or past issues, so eventually they worked out a peace bond thing where charges got pulled in exchange for some conditions like no contact for a bit and staying out of trouble. It avoided a record, but it wasn't instant just because she changed her story. Depends a lot on the details, like evidence and history.