Hi- donât know if you can answer this but I have a (very broke) friend who just found out he has a warrant out for his arrest (from what he said if I understood correctly he was informed during a job application background check and officers have yet to contact him). He was going to just turn himself in, but we convinced him he needed to talk to a lawyer first.
Heâs going to contact the county public defenderâs office first thing Monday morning- what are some questions he can ask/topics to broach?
The public defenderâs office will probably initially tell him they donât do anything until theyâve been appointed, which is generally true.
However/tip #1: itâs okay to push this â hi, I qualify for the public defender, Iâm about to turn myself in and Iâm scared and I want to know whatâs about to happen.
No guarantee that theyâll walk you through it, but when staff that I know (Iâve worked in two offices) hear things like that, they try to grab an attorney they know is willing to talk to randos.
Some of his questions might be answered in my âhow the criminal justice system worksâ posts, but heâll want to know how it works specifically there. So Iâd say the big questions are:
Once I turn myself in, what happens? / How long before I can speak to a magistrate or judge about bond?
If I am not initially granted bond, how long before I am advised and appointed counsel? (How long until lawyer.)
In my jurisdiction, anyone who is arrested talks to a magistrate first and might just be released right there; they would actually then come in about a week later to court to be formally advised of their charges and get an attorney.
If the magistrate doesnât grant bond, then that person would get an attorney with the video advisements the next day. This jurisdiction has advisements every day from jail. My last jurisdiction did not!!! Their advisements were Tuesday-Thursday. This is a very good thing to find out, because someone who turned themselves in on Sunday would have to wait all Monday before being advised on Tuesday.
Does this jurisdiction do bond hearings at first appearance?
My first jurisdiction did a spontaneous bond hearing for anyone who just got a lawyer. My current jurisdiction makes the lawyer set a bond hearing for Later. Important to know, because that means bond hearing might take another couple days to actually happen.
Unfortunately, the question he probably wants answered is a toughie:
Is he likely to get bond?
If your friend knows his full criminal record and can tell the attorney what charge heâs getting, the attorney can probably take a fair stab at this question. But I personally hate this guessing game. Is my prediction probably right? Yes. Is it definitely right? Fuck no. Clients want a firm answer. So they ask over and over again while I just try to calm their anxiety (and explain why I canât guarantee.)
Now armed with a full timeline, your friend should probably actually call the non emergency police line and ask them the best way to turn himself in. Theyâre used to this, because in the real world people generally just go and do the things they need to do, without cops having to hunt them down. This also means theyâll have his warrant ready and waiting, less delay, and theyâll be extra chill when he gets there.
Probably avoid turning himself in like Friday afternoon because no one will give a shit until Monday. Thursday also touchy for this reason. Monday is usually a decent bet. The local public defenders will know more.
Some handy tips:
Check pants for drugs BEFORE you let the cops arrest you.
For godâs sake please. Check the pants.
All the pockets.
Park where you wonât get towed or have a friend drop you off.
Give someone your work managerâs contact number.
Some jails have rules about what color your socks and underwear have to be if you bring them from home (white).
Have close friend/family member phone number memorized.
Charge your phone and turn it off when it goes into property. Consider also bringing a charger.
If you have some cash in you it can go into commissary fund which if you get stuck can help with many things like phone calls.
CHECK YOUR PANTS.
I do hope this helps.
