Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

[megaplayboy]

In one of the games I'm in, an amnesiac PC is being chased down by a bounty hunter, who has been given a federal arrest warrant to pick him up and deliver him to some sub-agency of the State Dept. Apparently he's alleged to be some kind of terrorist, but so far we have been unable to find out anything specific about the warrant. We're understandably reluctant to hand over our teammate to federal custody--a little paranoid he's going to be Gitmo'd and we'll never see him again.

Are there any legal options for challenging the validity of the warrant, or means of forcing the government to divulge the specific charges? What are the legal precedents in this regard? What's the most effective strategy for ensuring our teammate gets a truly fair shake out of this?

 

thanks in advance for assistance and feedback.

[McCoy]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

Warrants are court documents, and suppost to be a matter of public record. Anyone with a Law Enforcement Contact should be able to at least read the warrant. Or hire a lawyer. A lawyer can also make a motion to have the warrant quashed, but would have to know what the warrant is for to have a chance of that.

 

If it's a sealed warrant, your fears that he's going to be Gitmo'd are quite reasonable and not at all paranoid.

 

Have you thought of the team, minus the amnesiac, confronting the Bounty Hunter and asking to read/copy the warrant? Remember, he's basically a civilian with no authority over anyone except the amnesiac.

[Vanguard00]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

In one of the games I'm in, an amnesiac PC is being chased down by a bounty hunter, who has been given a federal arrest warrant to pick him up and deliver him to some sub-agency of the State Dept. Apparently he's alleged to be some kind of terrorist, but so far we have been unable to find out anything specific about the warrant. We're understandably reluctant to hand over our teammate to federal custody--a little paranoid he's going to be Gitmo'd and we'll never see him again.

Are there any legal options for challenging the validity of the warrant, or means of forcing the government to divulge the specific charges? What are the legal precedents in this regard? What's the most effective strategy for ensuring our teammate gets a truly fair shake out of this?

 

thanks in advance for assistance and feedback.

 

This may not answer your question at all, but to the best of my knowledge there are no authorized federal bounty hunters. Federal criminals who have warrants issued against them are the purview of the FBI or, at the very least, the US Marshalls. Bounty Hunting like you see on TV is state and local only. Think about it for a sec and it'll make sense; if you commit a federal crime (terrorist? sheesh!) they ain't gonna send Dog The Bounty Hunter after you. You get Tommy Lee Jones and company from "The Fugitive", and they ride your arse til you are caught.

 

That being said and assuming said bounty hunter is already in play, the PC charged with the crime can have legal counsel ascertain the validity of the warrant and/or charges. A duly authorized counselor (lawyer) will have every right to view the charges against their client, and may be authorized to make a deal ("She says she's innocent and is willing to give herself up to prove it, but we want certain concessions..."). Or however you want to go about it.

 

From a private citizen's standpoint, there's no real way to determine the exact contents of a federal warrant, not without counsel or special dispensation from the government. The person being charged with the crime might be able to get a copy of the warrant, but that might put her at the risk of being caught (and it’d be an acceptable ploy by any bounty hunter worth his/her salt).

 

Another option is to go to the press. Get on TV saying, “I didn’t do this crime they’ve accused me of, and I won’t turn myself in to be treated like a terrorist. I just want to know what they think I did.†The media will eat that sort of thing up, it’ll generate public interest, and then the PC can deal with the representatives of the government agency directly, with full media and public attention (and outcry if she’s mistreated).

 

Nice subplot from that: the bounty hunter gets pissed that he’s taken off the case and loses a lot of money, and decides to get even.

 

Hopefully some of this helped.

[Speedball]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

In one of the games I'm in, an amnesiac PC is being chased down by a bounty hunter, who has been given a federal arrest warrant to pick him up and deliver him to some sub-agency of the State Dept. Apparently he's alleged to be some kind of terrorist, but so far we have been unable to find out anything specific about the warrant. We're understandably reluctant to hand over our teammate to federal custody--a little paranoid he's going to be Gitmo'd and we'll never see him again.

Are there any legal options for challenging the validity of the warrant, or means of forcing the government to divulge the specific charges? What are the legal precedents in this regard? What's the most effective strategy for ensuring our teammate gets a truly fair shake out of this?

 

thanks in advance for assistance and feedback.

 

A few things:

First, McCoy is right: warrants are normally legal documents open to all. If they are sealed, they are still subject to motions filed under the Freedom of Information Act.

Second, bounty hunters are not used by the government to serve warrants in the real world, though I can see it making a certain amount of sense in a metahuman game. If this is an initial arrest warrant, it should be served by an officer of the Federal government, usually someone from the Dept. of Justice. If the PC has a bounty hunter after him, I would assume that means he's already skipped on bail at some point.

Third, McCoy is right again: if there's no way to unseal the warrant, do whatever you can to keep this guy away from the feds, since if he gets caught, you probably won't see him again for years--or if you do, he'll be in bad shape. Take a look at this week's New Yorker for the article titled "Outsourcing Torture: the battle over extraordinary rendition."

Fourth, if your friend gets caught regardless and the feds won't pony up with a warrant, someone needs to get the guy some representation. The cases making their way through federal courts now seem to indiciate some limited success in getting detainees/defendants legal help and access to their lawyer. One important question to determine just how screwed the PC is: is the guy an American citizen, or is he the citizen of another country? If it's the latter and you're playing in a close-to-real-world campaign, have the player make himself a new character to play...

[Blue]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

Keep in mind lots of things have changed in the federal arena since the Patriot Act in regards to treatment of terrorists.

 

Typically, a Writ of Habeus Corpus is filed in order to force the prosecutors to 1)Produce the captive and 2)Compel them to file charges or release him. I'm not sure how much of this is true under the Patriot Act.

 

An episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, last week, had Americans of Middle-eastern descent being held in a facility in NY without word behing given to anyone; The patriot act was cited. As you can see, my only experience with the law is thorugh Television

[Vanguard00]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

A few things:

First, McCoy is right: warrants are normally legal documents open to all. If they are sealed, they are still subject to motions filed under the Freedom of Information Act.

 

Not necessarily. Some warrants may be sealed for a variety of reasons, including the dreaded “It’s a matter of National Defense.†Many aren’t necessarily made public until the time the warrant is served.

 

Even still, just about anyone can indeed submit a form to discover the contents of that warrant, but that person could then be associated with the accused (“Hey, why does this guy want to know about that warrant? What does he know…?â€).

 

Second, bounty hunters are not used by the government to serve warrants in the real world, though I can see it making a certain amount of sense in a metahuman game. If this is an initial arrest warrant, it should be served by an officer of the Federal government, usually someone from the Dept. of Justice. If the PC has a bounty hunter after him, I would assume that means he's already skipped on bail at some point.

 

I should’ve said that, too. It does make for good gaming to have such bounty hunters. As I said, the US Marshall’s office handles fugitive recovery, but I could see them have special “contractors†with metahuman abilities who specialize in fugitive recovery. They’d almost certainly be closely watched, though.

[Battlestaff]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

First off, a bounty hunter would only be used if a person skipped on bond. Bounty hunter's are employed the trace down people who have skipped out on bail, and return these people to court in return for a bounty on the person's head (hence the name).

 

Second, a bounty hunter would never be used to serve an arrest warrant. To serve an arrest warrant requires that the individual executing the warrant have arrest powers over the person being arrested. A bounty hunter has only limited arrest powers, and that's for the purpose of arresting a fugitive (which a person who skips on bail becomes once the court revokes the person's bail/bond). In the federal system, it is the US Marshall service that serves arrest warrants.

 

As to the arrest warrant, a branch/sub-agency of the State Department would not be able to issue an arrest warrant. Only a court can (legitimately) issue an arrest warrant. Now, a federal agency can issue a subpoena to require a person to appear at a hearing, but again, that subpoena would not be served by a bounty hunter.

 

If the team wanted to view the arrest warrant, all they would have to do is go to the court clerk (the exact title will vary by jurisdiction) for the court that issued the arrest warrant, and request a copy of the warrant. They could also go to the local US Marshall's office and talk with a representative there, though the marshall is not required to give out this information. If your super team has a good relationship with the government, though, they are very likely to cooperate with you.

 

Now, if the character were being chased by the US Marshall service, I would recommend that the supers teammates (a) contact a competent defense attorney, and then they through the attorney should ( contact the marshall service and offer to turn the person in. As to concessions, the marshall service would only be in a position to offer concessions about something over which they have power (time and location of turning himself in, alerting the media, etc.). If they want concessions as to the charges, the team will have to talk with the prosecuting attorney. This again is something that could be done by the attorney prior to the super turning himself in.

 

If the situation is as you described, a bounty hunter serving an alleged arrest warrant issued by the State Dept., you are very right to be concerned as to its legitimacy, and the supers teammates may want to consider contacting the law themselves (state and federal), in order to catch these bounty hunters in the process of arresting the PC. Depending on jurisdiction, there are several crimes you could get them for, including (as examples) false imprisonment (doing so without power to do so), impersonating an officer (pretending to have police powers when they don't), and kidnapping. This could lead to a rollicking adventure where the hunted PC turns the tables and becomes the hunter!!

[McCoy]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

This may not answer your question at all' date=' but to the best of my knowledge there are no authorized federal bounty hunters. [/quote']

Actually there are, but technically they are Bail Enforcement Agents. Their only jurisdiction is over those who have skipped bail. But as Speedball said, they do not serve original arrest warrants.

[Battlestaff]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

As an aside, if he were being arrested as a terrorist, IIRC, he would be going to the Justice Department, not the State Department. The State Department handles legal matters, while the Justice Department handles law enforcement (such as enforcing the Patriot Act).

[megaplayboy]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

I'm very pleased and grateful for the responses thus far.

Yes, it does appear to be a sealed warrant, and all of the indicators thus far seem to indicate to the PCs that it's for some kind of terrorism-related charge(we just don't know what--we don't even know what name is listed on the warrant).

So far from what I've read:

1. we hire a lawyer--a really good one

2. move for writ of habeas corpus and/or to quash the warrant

3. keep him out of federal custody until we've exhausted all options

4. check with our fed contacts to try to find out what's in the warrant

5. go public, to the media, and apply pressure to get the feds to negotiate

 

That is true that the bounty hunter would have a very narrow mandate--we could get in trouble for interfering with his attempt to complete the contract, but otherwise he has no particular authority or mandate vis a vis the rest of the team.

[McCoy]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

I'm very pleased and grateful for the responses thus far.

Yes, it does appear to be a sealed warrant, and all of the indicators thus far seem to indicate to the PCs that it's for some kind of terrorism-related charge(we just don't know what--we don't even know what name is listed on the warrant).

So far from what I've read:

1. we hire a lawyer--a really good one

2. move for writ of habeas corpus and/or to quash the warrant

3. keep him out of federal custody until we've exhausted all options

4. check with our fed contacts to try to find out what's in the warrant

5. go public, to the media, and apply pressure to get the feds to negotiate

 

That is true that the bounty hunter would have a very narrow mandate--we could get in trouble for interfering with his attempt to complete the contract, but otherwise he has no particular authority or mandate vis a vis the rest of the team.

2. move to quash the warrant. Habeas Corpus only applies after he's been arrested.

 

The thing to remember about the Bounty Hunter is treat him as any other civilian and do not, under any circumstances, throw the first punch.

[megaplayboy]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

2. move to quash the warrant. Habeas Corpus only applies after he's been arrested.

 

The thing to remember about the Bounty Hunter is treat him as any other civilian and do not, under any circumstances, throw the first punch.

yeah, we first encountered him when he ambushed our teammate, and we arrived to assist in thrashing the mystery assailant. Only after he was englobed in an entangle did he identify himself. What complicates matters further is that the bounty hunter is a "guest PC", so it kinda throws a curve in there.

[Vanguard00]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

Actually there are' date=' but technically they are Bail Enforcement Agents. Their only jurisdiction is over those who have skipped bail. But as Speedball said, they do not serve original arrest warrants.[/quote']

 

Not to be argumentative, McCoy, but that's incorrect. There is no such thing as a Federal Bounty Hunting License--each state regulates bounty hunters separately. There is no federal provision for such. Federal agencies may indeed contract a state-licensed bounty hunter, but that'd be about it.

 

I can't find any reference to federally-licensed bounty hunters on the 'net. If I'm incorrect in my statements I'd appreciate a link. Hey, I've been wrong before. I might actually learn somethin' today.

 

EDIT: "Bail Recovery Agent", "Fugitive Recovery", "Bounty Hunter" are apparently synonymous, so I hope the terminology isn’t what’s causing the difference in opinion.

[McCoy]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

As to the arrest warrant' date=' a branch/sub-agency of the State Department would not be able to issue an arrest warrant. Only a court can (legitimately) issue an arrest warrant. Now, a federal agency can issue a subpoena to require a person to appear at a hearing, but again, that subpoena would not be served by a bounty hunter. [/quote']

Too lazy to look it up, but might not he be handed over to the State Department if the sole reason he was wanted was for extridition?

 

All the more reason to keep him out of the hands of the Feds, no Constitutional protections after they hand him over to the Other Government.

[McCoy]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

Not to be argumentative' date=' McCoy, but that's incorrect. There is no such thing as a Federal Bounty Hunting License--each state regulates bounty hunters separately. There is no federal provision for such. Federal agencies may indeed contract a state-licensed bounty hunter, but that'd be about it.[/quote']

Federally Licensed or Federally authorized? The authorization for all Bail Enforcement Agents is the Supreme Court case Taylor v. Taintor, 16 Wall 366, 1872: "When bail is given, the principle is regarded as delivered to the custody of his sureties. Their dominion is a continuance of the original imprisonment. Whenever they choose to do so, they may seize him and deliver him up in their discharge, and if that cannot be done at once, they may imprison him until it can be done. They may exercise their rights in person or by agent. They may pursue him into another state; may arrest him on the Sabbath; and if necessary, may break and enter his house for that purpose. The seizure is not made by virtue of new process. None is needed. It is likened to the rearrest, by the sheriff, of an escaping prisoner."

 

If the Bounty Hunter is after someone a Federal Court has released on bail, he is de facto a Federal Bounty Hunter (though the point could be made that he is not being paid by the government, but by whoever posted the bond).

 

I had heard somewhere that the District of Columbia had more Bounty Hunters, per capita, than any state. But can't find that now and apparently DC does not license Bail Enforcement agents, so I'm now considering that statistic suspect.

 

You are correct, the Federal Government does not license Bail Enforcement Agents (unless they did so in DC).

[Vanguard00]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

Federally Licensed or Federally authorized? The authorization for all Bail Enforcement Agents is the Supreme Court case Taylor v. Taintor' date=' 16 Wall 366, 1872[/i']: "When bail is given, the principle is regarded as delivered to the custody of his sureties. Their dominion is a continuance of the original imprisonment. Whenever they choose to do so, they may seize him and deliver him up in their discharge, and if that cannot be done at once, they may imprison him until it can be done. They may exercise their rights in person or by agent. They may pursue him into another state; may arrest him on the Sabbath; and if necessary, may break and enter his house for that purpose. The seizure is not made by virtue of new process. None is needed. It is likened to the rearrest, by the sheriff, of an escaping prisoner."

 

If the Bounty Hunter is after someone a Federal Court has released on bail, he is de facto a Federal Bounty Hunter (though the point could be made that he is not being paid by the government, but by whoever posted the bond).

 

I had heard somewhere that the District of Columbia had more Bounty Hunters, per capita, than any state. But can't find that now and apparently DC does not license Bail Enforcement agents, so I'm now considering that statistic suspect.

 

You are correct, the Federal Government does not license Bail Enforcement Agents (unless they did so in DC).

 

Okay, same goal, different roads. I'm with ya now.

[incrdbil]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

I'm very pleased and grateful for the responses thus far.

 

So far from what I've read:

1. we hire a lawyer--a really good one

2. move for writ of habeas corpus and/or to quash the warrant

3. keep him out of federal custody until we've exhausted all options

4. check with our fed contacts to try to find out what's in the warrant

5. go public, to the media, and apply pressure to get the feds to negotiate

1. Good.

2. Only applies after he turns himself in.

3. Harboring a known fugitive may make you criminals as well. Accessory after the fact, and all that.

4. Good idea.

5. they won't negotiatte, especially on matters of terrorism. Announcing you know where he is and are keeping him from the feds may effectively cost you the use of any open contacts.

 

There's no automatic assumption of gitmo style treament.

Anyway--why should you hide him? If he's amnesiac, how do you knwo he isnt one? Unless there's some reason to mistrust the government beyond the standard 'well, he's a PC ' reasons. Anyway, if this is a big GM polothook, I'd go explore finding out his past, the obvious plot hook, rather than role play out a legal battle and media PR scenario. Sometimes, you just go with the current.

[Iuz the Evil]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

I would make damn sure that my GM hadn't read the recent New Yorker article mentioned by Speedball on "Outsourcing Torture: the battle over extraordinary rendition." Caught that in the Doctor's waiting room and it was extremely chilling stuff... I can easily see that catching their eye, especially in a gritty iron-age style campaign. This seems like a "know your GM" type of scenario, but it would depend heavily on the style of the campaign as to how I'd respond to it. If it was four color, should probably trust that the good old US of A has your best interest at heart, let freedom shine forth and turn him in. If it's gritty and dark, with governmental conspiracies behind every closet door - then definitely I'd be more inclined to be singing ")*(@ the Police!" in response to this supposed warrant. Campaign settings falling between the extremes... well, you get the picture.

 

As to the legal recourse actually asked for in the thread, I'd think that you have got some excellent advice there. Federal Warrant should be accessable to at least motions for disclosure or whatever, if they decline to let you know anything about it that would raise my suspicions further. "We don't have to care, we're the government", is the likely response, but federal courts are bound by precedent and procedure... that high rent attorney should be good for something, after all!

 

Good luck avoiding your buddy being "outsourced" to the Sudan or some other 3rd world torture facility!

[Battlestaff]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

Too lazy to look it up' date=' but might not he be handed over to the State Department if the sole reason he was wanted was for extridition? [/quote']

That would make a lot of sense. Sorry for any misinformation. However, the State Dept. could not issue the arrest warrant on its own. It would need to apply to the proper issuing agency.

[Jim J]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

I am actually the player who's character is under threat. So, a heartfelt thanks for your help. My current intentions are to attempt to hire a lawyer (this should be interesting, having the disadvantage "poor", having a public ID as a prominent hero should net some competent lawyering pro-bono for the publicity), and--pending the advice of said npc lawyer--release a public statement to the local media. This statement will be both a solicitation of information about my past (this has been done before, but you never know), an explanation of my position (such as my hesitancy in the current political climate of turning myself over when the details of the warrant and charges, if any, against me are being withheld from review), and distancing our team from responsibility for any crimes I may or may not have commited in my unremembered past.

 

Thank you one and all for your contributions!

[Lupus]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

If it's gritty and dark' date=' with governmental conspiracies behind every closet door - then definitely I'd be more inclined to be singing ")*(@ the Police!" in response to this supposed warrant.[/quote']

Which may well end up with you singing "I fought the law (and the law won)", but that may still be better.

[Red Knight]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

Just to add my 2 cents worth....

 

I am a police officer and have dealt with Federal Warrants before.

 

First of all.... what type of warrant is it?? If it is a Federal Arrest Warrant, then the character has officially been charged with a Fderal Crime. Based on my knowledge of Supers games.... I'm sure there is a Super Patriots Act in the world.

If the warrant is a Federal BENCH warrant, then this is a mandate to appear before a judge for some reason. Usually, we deal with Bench Warrants in "failure to appear" cases. We grab the guy/gal, take them before a judge and 7 out of 10 times, they walk out of the judge's office..

 

OK... Now.. the warrant lists what charges are pending on them... Warrants are public knowledge and so are accessible unless sealed. Most of the tiem, the Affidavit is the item sealed and not the warrant.

Hiring an Attorney would not be a bad idea... In fact it is a GREAT idea.

The world of the courts is a labyrinth of double-talk and smoke and mirrors. If any of you have seen Chicago... the song "Give'em the old razzle dazzle" is very accurate.

 

Well... there you go.... my 2 cents....

[Iuz the Evil]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

Which may well end up with you singing "I fought the law (and the law won)"' date=' but that may still be better. [/quote']

 

Heck yeah it likely will end with that particular melody... but then if that's the campaign theme, there's some likelihood of the expectation of resistance by the PCs. So "if the noose is around my neck, I might as well jump" at that point.

 

Plus, it's what I'd do... that's not to say it's good advice

[Lupus]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

Heck yeah it likely will end with that particular melody... but then if that's the campaign theme, there's some likelihood of the expectation of resistance by the PCs. So "if the noose is around my neck, I might as well jump" at that point.

 

Plus, it's what I'd do... that's not to say it's good advice

Oh, I'd do the same thing in that world. Just call it One of My Turns. But when they're in the cell, it's all Goodbye Blue Sky.

[McCoy]

Re: Question for the legal eagles re federal arrest warrants

 

Thank you one and all for your contributions!

You're welcome.