Legal Question

[mikeandronda]

Heres the deal My younger brother is a low life drug addict. Love him but wont even let him know where I live because I like to keep all the stuff I own. He has been in minor trouble for yrs....mostly driving violations. He was arrested 4 days ago for burglary and we havent heard from him since. The police say they have him in custody but thats all the info they will give. They said he was offered a lawyer and a phonecall but he turned them down.

First off let me say Im 100% sure he did it. He is a herion and crack addict who gets real sick when he aint got drugs.......He has addmitted the home invasion to some people I know so as far as Im concerened he deserves what ever they give him for a sentance.

My only issue is it seems really wrong that in America you can be arrested and then just sit in jail with out even being able to contact anyone or get a lawyer. He is not cooperating with them so it seems goofy that he hasnt asked for a lawyer or phoned my mother who he is in contact with every day until this. If they dont charge him today he will have to wait until Mon to go before the district attorney so it would be at least 7 days since his arrest before he would be formally charged.

He has yet to be charged yet because the evidance they have is a little shakey. Could they be making it uncomfortable so he confesses? Could they be drawing this out in hopes of finding more evidance. He must be real sick by now. When your arrested dont they have to at least get you a public defender and and let you make a call. He deserves to be put in jail no doubt but something seems funny here and my mother is a basket case. All they say is they have hime and he is on some kinda watch where they check on him every 15 mins......sounds like a sucide watch to me.

 

[BoogieMan]

Re: Legal Question

Sorry to here that Mike. It does sound like a suicide watch to me. Did he resist arrest? I have never been arrested knock on wood although I have done some stupid things (not burglary). Could he have been beaten by the arresting officers? Another thing to, he may be coming off of a "high" moment and not really know what he is doing, maybe he isn't back to his senses yet.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Legal Question

Thats a tough situation Mike.I know he does have a right to have a lawyer court appointed or not. If he is sick he would have a right to medical treatment as well.I guess it depends on the jail as far as how long they will make him suffer.Even though he did wrong they should not treat anyone like that.They should send him some where to get help for his addiction then let him go through court.
I wish him and you all luck!

 

[oops!]

Re: Legal Question

really tough situation.
my condolances.

people that use drugs do not think like you or me. there is a chance he is uncoperative because he wants to go to jail. being addicted he probably has a tough time finding a place to crash. (if hes got his own place then hes not that addicted yet)
the watch.....may be medical as the cops know hes going to go thru withdrawls.
but unfourtunatly. if he doesnt want a lawyer.....
you cant help someone that doesnt want to be helped

my best wishes and prayers for you, fam and bro

oops

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: Legal Question

Thanks guys. It is tough but in truth he is safer in there then on the streets. I just wish we could hear something. He didnt reist ( We know the people he was staying with) He has been suicidal over the thast yr or so but refuses any kind of help the requirs him to go into treament and quite doping it up. Whats really sad is he was the good child....the one who had his act together. I was the screw up and for years used to look up to my little brother. about 15 yrs ago he started dateing a crackhead with the intention of getting her of crack and 6 month later he was in the hospital dieing cuz his body could no longer use potasium due to large amounts of Crack........Down hill until 2 yrs ago he broke his leg and they put him on oxi coton......after a while of that they cut him off so he moved on to heroin and everything else. If he was smart he would cop to the charge tell the judge he has a drug problem and needs help and throw himself at their mercy.......Im sure that wont happen though

 

[aspeck]

Re: Legal Question

Mike, there are a lot of things we do NOT know. Because of the right to privacy, many times even family members cannot get information. The person who the info is about must give permission for it to be given out. So it is possible the lack of knowing where he is, or what is happening, could be because he has not specifically allowed them to release information to you.

Don't just assume because you do not know, he is not getting the medical attention or legal advice he needs. I know there are some LEO's that abuse the system, but they are in the minority. Chances are good that he is surrounded by some good ones that have HIS best interests at heart. You and the family will in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: Legal Question

Yes Art, thats what I was thinking..... Why would they screw up the case by not following the law and giving him his rights. But it still hurts that my poor mom has to sit there as scared as she is without at least hearing he is ok and being treated well as can be expected......Im sure he is sick....real sick by now and that could very well be why he has the watch......I hope we at least can find out by Mon.......Its scary but if I wouldnt have met my wife and then become a Christian it could be me.......I was worse off then him back then.

 

[bjcsc]

Re: Legal Question

Nothing seems out of the ordinary to me. He refused the offer to make phone calls and refused an attorney. So he'll sit there until his arraignment date (where he will officially be made aware of the charges and enter a plea) and then go back until his trial. If he's on suicide watch, they'll probably ask that he be remanded. That's how it works. If the defendant can't bond out, they stay in until trial. It's not cruel.

I'm sorry to hear about it - that's a tough situation. If I were you, I would find out who is prosecuting and set up a meeting with them. Find out if rehab can be mandated and make something good out of this. Take a tough love approach, DO NOT BOND HIM OUT, and see if you can leave him no alternative to rehab.. Do all the legwork and see if you can't help him plead it out with mandatory rehab in addition to any other sentence requirements...

 

[External Combustion]

Re: Legal Question

It'sa tough deal, but there is the possibility that your brother knows exactly what he is doing. There is no law that forces a suspect to call a lawyer or try to make bail. I have a cousin doing some hard time for drugs also.

He states with all sincereity he states that his being busted saved his life. He refused any legal help so he would be sent to jail. He knew within himself that was the only way he could kick the habit. They almost had to amputate his arms because he was in such bad shape. The cops and the system has actually taken good care of him and he is physicaly and mentally in good health now.

He is free of the active addiction now and has owned up to his responsibilities. I really think he will make it when he gets out and I am looking forward seeing him out.

His first step was refusing legal help. Maybe your brother is doing the same thing.

It is best to find some way to check on him though. The jail chaplain is one way and a good lawyer is another.

May y'all have peace.

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: Legal Question

Bjcsj, I dont think its cruel and its my opinion that he should get a bunch of time if they find him guilty. If someone robbed my house I would want him dead.......I think this could be a chance for him to get help if he asks for it. Im in Mo. and he is in Wi. so I cant meet with the DA. But maybe my mom can.

EC good Idea about the Chaplain she is gonna call and see if she find out who that would be. Thanks

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Legal Question

mike i've been around addicts, my brother was one also. when they are incarcerated, they tend not to cooperate, get sent to the medical ward, for suicide watch, until they come out of their stuper, and withdrawals. they make no sense, as to reality.

even if the evidence is weak, they can charge him, set bond high enough he can't make it, this he sits and waits, and gets clean. after 30 days or so, they drop the charges and let them out, because of the weak case.

that's the time the family has to involuntarily commit him to treatment. if they can find a facility with and open bed.

it's a horrible situation. my father was also murdered by a Druggie.

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: Legal Question

Word is that they moved him to county jail just before his 72 hours were up, which means he will be charged with a felony most likely but they must be taking care of him cuz one of the gaurds said they had to bring him to the hospital due to his leg swelling up and him being in alot of pain last night but the gaurd says he was very nice and they actually gave him Mcdonalds........tough jail he was in County jail is a whole nother story though so we will see how he holds up there..........This cop that talked to my Mom was very helpful and said he is doing OK. Its my guess he may be working with them so if he plays his cards right maybe he will get treatment instead of prison time. And I am pretty harsh on him but thats what he needs not prison. He used to be a pretty great guy. Not violent and used to have a bit of honor.......Its real sad. But maybe there is a light at the end of his tunnel. At least I hope so.

 

[SgtMaj]

Re: Legal Question

Mike,
First of all, sorry for your (or rather his) situation. It doesn't sound like they violated his rights though. Since there isn't a specific set time that they can hold a person before filing charges, the law simply says "reasonable". That varies greatly by offense and by judge. For things like traffic violations, most judges will toss it out if they take longer than 2 hours. For more serious offenses it can be several days. If they offered him a lawyer and he refused, they can not force one upon him without a hearing before a judge, which takes some time. As far as them checking on him every 15 minutes, that is technically suicide watch, but many jail systems have made that a policy for all of their inmates due to some not so recent lawsuits, so that doesn't necessarily mean that he expressed any suicidal tendencies.

As far as sentencing goes, you mentioned a home invasion robbery. With that type of crime, it is very typical for them to also tack a kidnapping charge on with it. If they do that, he will definitely have to serve some time. If not, and the prosecutor is in a good mood, he can probably get out of it with very little if any time, lots of probation, restitution and, as you said before, rehab. Although, if he does refuse a lawyer and makes the judge and prosecutor hold a hearing to force an appointee on him, it's very likely that he won't get a very good deal. BTW, unless he gets a very expensive lawyer, there won't be a trial. A plea agreement will be quickly reached (it usually takes less than 2 minutes to hammer out a plea between the public defender and prosecutor). Don't be put off by this, as the public defender and even judge's main motivation for giving a better deal to him, is the time they will save. If he tries to be a pain though and wastes their time, they will most likely throw the book at him.

Oh, and both city and county jails are very relaxed, not at all like state and federal penitentiaries. So he'll be just fine in the county lockup.

 

[beerrun]

Re: Legal Question

I am glad that at least youre getting some info on how hes doing. Theres nothing worse than the things your mind will come up with when youre worried. Hopefully he gets the help he needs but what is the rest of the family doing to cope with his problem? Does anybody go to meetings or anything like the equivelant of alanon or are you all just kinda dealing with it? I know you said he doesnt even know where you live but is the rest of the family supporting his habit? I've been through this with my cousin. It helped us to all be on the same page. Every time something happened we all knew what was going on and what to expect. A surprise junky on the doorstep sucks.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Legal Question

As hard as it may be to think about, you may be doing him the biggest favor of his life by letting this run its own course. Getting someone into rehab on the outside is very difficult unless you have a lot of money. If your brother does get out any time soon, he will just go back to doing what he was doing before.

It may just be time to practice some "tough love" by not trying to fix this. You can keep in touch and let him know that you will always love him as a brother, but he has to do the right thing. I think that the most important thing to say, is that the business about doing the right thing is for him, not for you, not for your mom and not for anyone else.

 

[oops!]

Re: Legal Question

mike, a good friend is a drug addict counselor.
he says for addicts to finally realize they want out of that stuff, it takes a lot.
they lie pretty bad so they tell you what you want to hear, when they get out they go right back to the stuff that got them there in the first place.

lets hope that all the nessary things happen and he decides for himself to get clean.....thats the best you can ask for.

tash...your last statement in post 11 really rocked me...
i just responded to that kind of stuff on a different thread....

dont know what to say.....
any thing is weak...but my deepest sympathy for you and your family

oops