Not necessarily. Once a person reports a crime, prosecution of that crime is largely out of his or her hands. When a complaining witness’s testimony is the only or strongest evidence of guilt the prosecution has, the witness’s refusal to testify may convince the prosecution to drop the case. However, the prosecution may decide to proceed even without a complainant’s testimony if the state has other evidence of the defendant’s guilt. And for domestic violence and sex crimes, the prosecution is usually prohibited from dismissing the case even if the victim declines to cooperate or testify or wants the charges dropped.