Out of 131 cases tracked through a Canadian court, 17 had the charges either withdrawn or dismissed through lack of evidence. Although such decisions are presented in the literature as being primarily within the prosecutor's discretion, the research showed that the prosecutor's decision to proceed with a prosecution is limited by the willingness of the victim and witnesses to cooperate, the preferences of the police, the strategies of the accused and defense counsel, the cooperation of the judge in granting adjournments, and by court schedules. It is, therefore, unlikely that cases concluded by withdrawal of charges can be screened out at a relatively early stage. Even when charges may be withdrawn, the accused still may suffer punitive consequences in the process, including pretrial detention, costs of time and money, and the labeling effect that results from being charged with an offense. The placing of charges that are subsequently withdrawn is also used to coerce those accused by obtaining bail conditions and attendant controls over a suspect, to hold a suspect for investigation of other matters, to restrain parties involved in domestic disputes, etc. Prosecutors may also use a court appearance at which charges are withdrawn to reprimand troublesome complainants. Thirty-eight references are listed.