I: SO YOU HAVE BEEN ARRESTED.

Q: What are my rights?

A: You have several rights given to you by the Constitution. Among those rights are:

 1. Right to Remain Silent. By all means do not talk to the police until after you have talked to a lawyer. This is sometimes called the right against self-incrimination or Miranda rights. You are not going to talk your way out of being arrested, that decision has already been made. The courts have ruled that the police are allowed to lie to a suspect as a tactic to get them to cooperate and confess to a crime. When the police tell you that they will tell the judge that you cooperated, they are telling you the truth, but not in the way you think. Your explanation or rationalization will sound like a confession when those agents testify for the prosecutor against you at trial. The right to remain silent is an important right that you should keep. Tell the police in no uncertain terms that you do not want to talk to them and that you want a lawyer.

2. Right to an Attorney. You have the right to have an attorney to represent you. The judge hearing your case is an attorney, the prosecutor is an attorney and the police/law enforcement officers are trained professionals. Let's face it, you are not on a level playing field, you need the help of an experienced professional who handles these types of cases on a daily basis.

3. Right to a Reasonable Bond. You have a Constitutional right to a reasonable bond. Unfortunately, there are exceptions for certain charges such as first degree murder (state court) and major drug cases or crimes of violence (federal court). There are standard bonds set for almost all charges in state court. Some of these bonds are fairly reasonable, but many of the bonds are extremely high. If you have ties to the community (which basically means things like family, friends, stable employment, kids in school or other facts which show that you live a stable lifestyle) then there is a good chance that a motion can be filed to get the bond reduced. In federal court things work a little differently. You must always go to court to have your actual bond set. So, if you are arrested on federal charges, you will have to go to court before the Magistrate Judge to get your bond set. You will definitely need an attorney to represent you at this hearing.

4. Right to Know What Evidence is to be Used Against You. You will not be getting this evidence at the time of your arrest, but in order for you to be properly represented in the case, this is a very important right. Depending on whether you are charged in federal court or state court the kind of material and information you will receive.

5. Right to a Fair Trial by an Impartial Jury. You have a right to a jury trial before people who live in your community. Of course, the only way to be certain that you are going to have a fair trial is to have an experienced trial attorney there to protect you, to be certain that your rights are not violated and to fight for you all the way through.

 

Q: What should I do?

A: Answer truthfully the simple questions about yourself that the officers at the booking desk ask you. Whatever you say, make sure it is the truth. Do not give a false name, date of birth or other information of that type. The police will check you name for aliases and check your fingerprints to see if there are any matches. If you have been arrested anywhere or have ever had your fingerprints taken for a job, everything that happens to you. there is an extremely good chance that they will be able to match your earlier prints to the ones that you will be forced to give as part of the booking procedure. If they find out that you have lied to them about something, then they will always use that against you. Remember: If you don't say it, they can't repeat it. Again, the less said the better. Other than that you should make the phone call that you are allowed after you are booked and make sure that your family or friends do what they can to get you out of jail.

Q: What shouldn't I do?

A: Do not give the officers a hard time. Remember, there are always more of them than you can handle. They are in control at that time of virtually everything that happens to you. There is no sense at all in making your life more miserable at that point by giving them a hard time.

 

 II: WHEN FAMILY OR A FRIEND HAS BEEN ARRESTED.

 Before I begin to give you advice and information about what to expect I would like to suggest that after you read this information you also read Part I

 So You Have Been Arrested

 Q: What do I do first?

When you get that call that someone close to you has been arrested the first thing you need to do is get as much information as possible. It is a good idea to write everything down. Among the things you would like to learn are:

1. What is the name, date of birth and social security number that the arrested person is being held under?

2. What are the charges?

3: What law enforcement agency made the arrest? Was it State or Federal, if State, was it Local Police or County Sheriff? 3: Where is the arrested person being held? What jail?

4: Is there a bond and what is the amount?

Q: How do I get them out of jail?

A: The way to get someone out of jail it to post a bond with the court or with the sheriff's department. Sometimes, particularly in federal cases the arrested person will have to go to court before they are able to post a bond. Also, sometimes the bond that is set is too high for you to be able to post. In either of these circumstances you will need an attorney to get the bond set or reduced so that the citizen accused can get out of jail.

Q: What is bail or bond?

A: Bail is money or other property that is given to either the Sheriff or the Court to make certain that a person shows up for court when they are required to do so. This is called posting bond. The amount of bail in State cases is usually pre-determined by a bond schedule that is set by the Court to cover all cases. If a person has enough family ties, a good job and other connections in the community, it is often possible to get a high bail reduced. As a general rule in State court a bail bondsman posts the bond, with the bondsman getting collateral such as a mortgage on property. They also charge a fee of 10% of the bond to have the accused released. This money is not given back. If you have the money readily available, you can post a cash bond and that money will be returned when the case is over. After bail has been posted (see questions and answers that follow) a person still has to be processed out of the jail. This too, takes time. For example, those same people who were booked into jail may be in line to get out because their bond has also been posted. The jail will also run another warrant check to see if, while they are in jail and getting booked another warrant has been issued against them.

Q: How long is it going to take to get them out of jail?

A: There is no simple answer to this question, but it will take some time for the question of bond to be resolved. You must prepare yourself for this mentally and emotionally. Right now you and your loved one are probably dealing with several strong emotions like fear, confusion and anxiety. Please understand that you are dealing with a system that has at least three levels - police, prosecutors and the judicial system. All three parts will play a critical role in how the case turns out. You need someone working hard against these groups trying to help your loved one fight this battle. Right now we are talking about the emergency situation that you find yourself in so let's focus on the present problems. First, patience pays big dividends. Time will never move as slowly as it does while you are trying to find out what is going on and getting (that relative or loved one) out jail. Each police department and jail has its own operating procedures and believe me, they are going to follow those instructions no matter what. This means that each person who is arrested will have to be processed into the jail. Jails process incoming arrestees in the order that they are brought into the jail. So, if there are six people in the holding cell before someone comes into the jail it means that those people will be processed first. You can expect to wait for at least four and up to eight hours for someone to be processed or booked. Until someone has been booked into the county jail or processed by the U.S. Marshals, they are in a state of limbo and as far as the jail personnel are concerned they are officially not in the system and do not exist. In most cases the arrested person will not get that one phone call until after they are booked into jail. Often times it is from this phone call that you get the answers to the questions that were set out in the answer to What do I do first?.

Q: What do these charges mean?

A: Depending on the circumstances and whether or not the case is brought by the federal or state authorities, the answer can be either a great deal or not a lot, let's wait and see. If you are arrested by the state authorities (local police or sheriff) the police will usually file every charge they can possibly think of that may stick. Many times the actual charges filed by the prosecutor will be different than those for which the person was arrested. Sometimes the prosecutor will file more serious charges and sometimes the prosecutor will file less serious charges. In federal cases, the investigators, such as the FBI, DEA, or Customs, are almost always consulting with a prosecutor throughout the course of the investigation. Although the complaint filed may have different language than filed in the Indictment, the charges in a federal case tend to be very similar to those in the Indictment. With this said, let me explain in general terms the difference in various types of charges involved in criminal cases. A felony is any crime that carries the possibility of a maximum sentence of more than one year in prison. A police officer can arrest someone for a felony if they have what is called probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed. It does not take very much evidence for them to find that probable cause exists. Probable Cause really means that the officer has in his mind good reason to arrest. A misdemeanor is any other crime, that is any crime punishable by a sentence of less than a year in prison, so they would only be sentenced, at the most to time in the county jail. Now don=t despair - these are definitions of terms and are not an indication of what the outcome of the case would be. So, to finally answer the question, it means that then you will have to wait some time to find out precisely what the actual charges are going to be.

Q: My friend or loved one is not a citizen of the United States. How does that effect time and what do I do?

A: Depending upon a person's immigration status in this country and the nature of the charges can have a greater impact on whether or not they are released on bond and also on their case in general. Right now I am going to limit my answer to the emergency situation that you are facing. Since the nature of the charges vary so much from case to case, it is impossible to give general advice that applies to everyone. A person's immigration status and the fact that they are a foreign national has a great deal more impact in Federal court than State court on the question of bond. The most important thing to do immediately is to make sure that your attorney is aware of the fact that your friend or loved one is not a U.S. citizen. You should also contact the appropriate Consulate so that they are advised that one of their citizens is incarcerated.