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****This is a very brief, general guide intended
to allow a layman to get an idea of the legal process in Texas criminal
law. "Legalese" and other gobbledegook is limited.
ARREST/DETENTION
Ideally, arrests should be made only after probable cause
has been proven and a warrant has been issued by a magistrate who impartially
considered all the relevant facts. Instead, warrantless arrests are the
rule. Many police officers have never even had the experience of asking
for a warrant.
Police are not supposed to arrest anyone unless they have
a warrant, but there are countless exceptions. The exceptions have all
but made getting a warrant obsolete. Generally, police may arrest those
who commit a crime in the presence of the officer.
Texas Courts have ruled it is legal for police officers
to approach any person to simply talk, if the officer has a right to be
there. Technically, people are free to ignore the officer and walk away
from him. Common sense tells us that almost no one feels free to walk away
from such an encounter, but that's the law. No "seizure" occurs
in this scenario.
"Seizure" of a person occurs, however, when
the police officer temporarily "detains" someone. Detention is
allowed if the officer has "reasonable suspicion" that some unusual
activity is happening, that the unusual activity is related to a crime,
and that the person detained is somehow connected to the unusual activity.
This is called a "temporary detention", and it may last only
as long as the circumstances justify it. In other words, the moment the
officer learns that his suspicion is incorrect, detaining the person any
longer is illegal.
For example, a police officer sees a man with a ski mask
in 90-degree weather running from the direction of a bank which has alarms
sounding. The officer has reasonable suspicion to temporarily detain the
man.
"Probable Cause" is the standard used to determine
whether the police officer has sufficient reason to arrest a person. Basically,
that means the officer has good reason to arrest when the facts he knows
are enough to allow a reasonable man to form a belief that the person detained
has actually committed a crime.
Back to Criminal Defense
in General
*All answers are for people 21 years or older, do not involve enhancements,
are not exclusive, and are limited to Texas.
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