Once the charges are handed over to the Crown prosecutor (which they were when Cole elected a jury trial) it is up to the Crown prosecutor and not the SPCA whether they progress. If they can't be assured that the charges will be proved to the criminal evidentiary threshold of beyond a reasonable doubt then it is better that the charges are withdrawn, in my legal opinion. This means that if they can get further evidence later on, then they can lay charges again. Whereas if they prosecute and don't reach the threshold for conviction and later get more evidence, they can't try him again due to s 26(2) NZBORA.
