QUESTION
is it possible to be charged with something without ever being arrested for the offense
Asked on Jan 10th, 2014 on Criminal Law - Texas
More details to this question:
a detective in my town wanted to talk to me about a crime he thought I was involved in. avoiding confrontation with him the two times he came to my house, the cop sees me at the grocery store, he was off duty and with his wife. he approached me and said whats your name. avoiding who I thought was a civilian, he follows me to my friends truck and demands me to get out and come with him. I asked to see his badge or gun and all he had was a paper card of the police department. wich any civilian has plain access to at the city hall. seeing as how he couldn't give me more proof than that I told my friend to leave. the cop said he would get me for evading arrest if we left wich of course we did. a month or so later I get papers in the mail saying im being charged with evading and failure to id a fugitive. is this legally possible? will they arrest me at court for the charge since I was never detained for it?
1 ANSWER
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The short answer is: yes, you can be "charged" with those offenses. What they need is probable cause. That will get them an arrest warrant. With that, they'll come and pick you up. It doesn't matter if you were previously arrested for it. You need to hire an attorney immediately, to be honest. Don't call them and don't talk to them. Have all communications go through your attorney. If the cop was in plainclothes at the store, and all he could produce was a business card, then there is certainly an available defense to both charges.
What you got in the mail is very likely a summons. If you fail to appear on the date that's included, they will issue a warrant for your arrest. But, just because you're being charged with those offenses does not mean you cannot beat them in court.
Answered on Jan 10th, 2014 at 7:16 PM