“Probation cannot be violated based on a dismissed charge.”

The client on probation who violates her probation by committing a new criminal offense has the mythical belief that if the new crime is nolle prossed, no filed or dismissed then it cannot be used against her in a violation of probation hearing. And who can blame her for thinking this way? It makes sense. Naturally, the client also mythically believes his probation cannot be violated if he is found not guilty at trial of committing the crime he was violated for committing. Which is why no matter how many times it is explained to the client that the burden of proof is different in a violation of probation hearing than it is in a jury trial, and that a Judge not a Jury presides over the hearing, no one can ever really understand how they can still be violated.

The truth is it’s pretty much impossible to explain to a person that she can still be violated even though the crime resulting in her violation was dismissed,113 or she was acquitted of the crime by a jury,114 or even when a motion to suppress evidence was granted in the new offense’s case resulting in a dismissal.115  These are myths that it makes perfect sense to believe are true.