“It’s my understanding that the state is not able to proceed because the victim does not, the plaintiff does not want to go forward. Is that correct?” Moore asked, looking at Martinez. “Is anybody forcing you to tell me that you don’t want to go forward?”

Martinez said no.

Herrera must finish counseling as a condition of the dismissal, Moore said, and has to provide a certificate of completion within 60 days.

When police arrived at Golden Nugget Atlantic City that evening, they found Martinez, 20, speaking with security officers, with “visible signs of injury” on her arms and neck that police said she sustained during a dispute with her boyfriend, whom they identified as Herrera.

“There were no other witnesses present,” Chief Municipal Prosecutor Kelley Hasson Blanchet said during the hearing. “Because Miss Martinez does not wish to testify, the state also looked at whether or not we could prove the case independent of her testimony, and there’s not sufficient evidence to do so.”

However, Blanchet said Martinez was provided additional resources here and in Pennsylvania “in the event that there are any additional problems.”