Denver Extradition Attorneys – Procedures for State to State Arrest & Transfer
Leaving one state to escape the possibility of being arrested in that state is common. No doubt, it makes it more difficult for police to find them. But, for more serious crimes, police in Denver and Jefferson County place the wanted person’s name on NCIC (National Crime Information Center), a national crimes data base, where every police department in the U.S. has access. With every contact, police run the person’s name through a state database (CCIC in Colorado) and NCIC. This enables police to learn whether the person they are talking to has any warrants here or elsewhere (a foreign state). Bringing someone back to Colorado or from Colorado, is known as Extradition. The U.S. Constitution requires one state to produce a wanted person found in a separate state. To make the process more uniform, police have a process to extradite someone across state lines. This is known as the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act.
Jefferson County Colorado Attorney for Extradition Under the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act
Through the UCEA, member states have agreed in advance on the procedures to force someone to return to a demanding state to face criminal charges. In Jefferson county, the process of forcing someone to return to Colorado or to another state from Colorado, is very similar. Under the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, member states can be sure that each of their laws are obeyed and that alleged offenders of state laws can’t go into hiding across state lines. In Colorado, C.R.S. 16-19-104, details the process which one state makes to return a fugitive from another state in the Extradition process. All member states to the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act are required to follow these procedures when they want to extradite someone home.
Fugitive from Justice Lawyer in Douglas County and Arapahoe County
“Fugitives” are people wanted in a separate state. A Fugitive from Justice does not always know that they were wanted in Colorado or another state before they left. They are not necessarily hiding. They are merely accused by a foreign state. When a wanted person is located in Douglas or Arapahoe County, they can legally be arrested for extradition to the foreign state, under their warrant. Sometimes foreign states will ask Colorado police to go look for someone they want returned home, or the police here will see the warrant in the National Crime Information Center computers after a contact with the wanted person for another reason. The foreign state will formally demand the release of the wanted person in writing in a Governor’s Warrant. Read more about Extradition and a Fugitive from Justice in Colorado.
How a Lawyer Will Extradite Someone Under The Uniform Criminal Extradition Act
Once Colorado receives the Governor’s Warrant, it is the responsibility of the Colorado governor to have the wanted person taken into custody and given over to the police from the foreign state. All states have mutual obligations to return men and women sought by a foreign state for criminal prosecutions. Colorado’s governor will issue his own Governor’s Warrant demanding the arrest of the person wanted in the other state, and this will cause local police to arrest the wanted person just the same as if they were wanted on a Colorado judge’s arrest warrant. At least half the time, the person is already in custody. Next, a hearing will be schedlued before any transfer.
Your Attorney and the Extradition Hearing in Adams County, Colorado
People arrested on a Governor’s Warrant are entitled to a brief hearing before a Colorado judge, to be sure the arrest and effort to extradite are in order. The person who is accused of a crime does this through a Writ of Habeas Corpus, which is basically civil proceeding, rather than a criminal case. Usually, the accused cannot prevent his or her Extradition to another state, because that is not part of the process. The Habeas Corpus hearing is a simplified process and not designed to scrutinize the merits of the warrant and accusations in the foreign state. It is just an examination of the rules of the Extradition process, to be sure that all procedural requirements for the Colorado arrest and transfer to the foreign state are met.
Physically Moving Someone in the Denver Extradition Process
The physical process of moving someone across state lines is normally a very lengthy one, sometimes done by private companies. For example, we have seen it take a week or more in jail transport vans to move someone a thousand miles back to Brighton or Golden. The vans travel an indirect route, picking up inmates in several states. They do not travel a straight line, but zig zag different directions to make pick-ups. At night, people on these vans are forced to stay in local county jails, where the conditions are not always great. We have had success in helping our clients avoid the transport van route. Sometimes officers will fly to where the person is and bring them back. Either way, the defendant will be required to reimburse the state for all extradition costs.
If you have been labeled a Fugitive from Justice wanted for extradition to or from Colorado, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent, and contact the best Extradition Lawyers at the O’Malley Law Office, at 303-731-0719. Together, we can protect your future.
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