It’s important to understand that, in Virginia, once a complaint is made, the police determine that the complaint is credible, and an investigation is in process, and warrants or indictments have been issued, it’s no longer within the control of the victim to drop or pursue charges.
Even if the victim no longer wants to press charges or changes their story after the fact, it’s still up to the prosecutor to weigh the facts and evidence to determine whether or not they prosecute or drop the charges.
So, while it isn’t uncommon for an alleged victim to recant their allegations, there is no guarantee that the charges will be dropped even if they do change their mind.
If a person decides they don’t want to move forward with their allegations but the prosecutor doesn’t drop the charges, it will affect how those charges are handled moving forward. It becomes significantly more important to have an attorney that knows what they’re doing with those changes in circumstances. An experienced attorney will be able to effectively utilize an alleged victim’s recant in a person’s defense.