legal question re:holding without a phone call

[ProdigalJunkMail]

Hello all goodmorning from your resident jail-bird. I have a brief story to tell, but before wasting anyone's time with that I will pose the question first:

Are there legal requirements that, when one is arrested, they be allowed to make a phone call and if so, is there a time at which that must be granted?

Now for the story for those who are interested :

On Thurs night I was pulled over in NE Georgia. Upon the stop, I handed over my license and registration to the officer for what I assumed would either be a ticket or a warning. A few moments later the officer returns to place me in handcuffs and take me to the local detention center. I was arrested for having a suspended driver's license in NC (my home state...that is something I still have to figure out...not sure WHY it was suspended but that is a tale for another time).

Upon being carted off to the lock-up I was placed in a holding cell for over 12 hours without being allowed to even call my wife to let her know that I was alive...this actually caused the beginning of a four state manhunt looking for me (I was returning from Denver CO). After finally being booked-in some 13 hours after my initial arrest I was allowed to call my wife and thus stopped the manhunt...what a pain and I really think this should be illegal...

Thanks for listening to my rant...I am reall much more calm now!

theProdigal (I am posting this in the lounge as well)

[Misinformed01]

1. I don't know the legal answer

I just wanted to offer my support-

NC here too.

Keep us posted on what is going on-

Stephanie

[ProdigalJunkMail]

2. I am no longer incarcerated...by the way

I am NOT writing this from the county lock-up :-)

theProdigal

[Massacure]

3. They are allowed to suspend your license without notifying you?

Anyways the manhunt is their loss. It's ironic how law enforcement won't pay less than a buck for a phonecall, but will end up paying thousands for a manhunt.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

4. apparently...I have no idea why it is suspended

I rented a car just last week using this same license and they run it through the computer, too and THAT didn't turn up any problems...

theProdigal

[Misinformed01]

6. OK, now we have a conversation

My insurance company told me my rates would go down when my points for the speeding ticket were removed after a year; problem was, I have never had a ticket in my life.

I found out that the bad information came from Choicepoint. Yep. Choicepoint, that very same company that provided the phoney "Felon" list in FL that gave us GD GWB.

You need to find out where they got there information, and contact the state of NC DMV.

Stephanie

[xocolatl]

11. Tuttle vs. Buttle

Maybe it has something to do with that Tuttle/Buttle business in Brazil.

[htuttle]

18. Nonsense!

The Ministry of Information NEVER makes a mistake! It must have been planned from the inside...

[Redhead488]

8. Yes, they can

Virgina did it to me. I was a TX resident, living in MD with a MD driver's license (I was in the Air Force at the time). While driving from my home in MD to a temp duty location in Virginia, I got a speeding ticket. I paid the ticket by mail. NINE years later, (now retired from the Air Force and living in MD) I was on my way from my home in MD to a meeting in Virgina. Got pulled over for a bad taillight (no fine or anything), BUT was told that my Virgina driver's privileges had been revoked because the court had received my fine 3 days late back in 1995. The state trooper was very nice and told me how to take care of it...he could have arrested me and impounded my car on the spot...he even gave me instructions to the nearest DMV.

[freetobegay]

5. They can hold you for up to 72 hours without charging you

Or giving you a phone call. with the Patriot act who knows now?

[ProdigalJunkMail]

9. how can that be so?

I mean, it was a freaking suspended license...it is not like I killed anyone. All I wanted to do was call my wife and tell her I was alive...I wasn't even interested in bonding out at that time...

theProdigal

[freetobegay]

10. Something called probable cause

I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying thats the way it is.

[soup]

7. Found this, for what it's worth-

In many jurisdictions, you have the right to make a telephone call, or calls, once you are placed into custody. In some states, you are only allowed to call someone in order to secure a lawyer or to arrange for bail, although you may be able to call a family member or friend to help you make those arrangements. Generally, you are not entitled to make a telephone call until after you have been booked.
http://cobrands.public.findlaw.com/dui/life_events/le5_2chronology.html

But don't know if it pertains to Georgia.

[KharmaTrain]

14. The key is being "booked"

Before you are charged, you are a suspect and in most cases, the 72-hour rule applies. Supposedly this is so that if there is a crime being committed, this would allow the police to keep a suspect and trap others that may also be involved without blowing their cover. Or this is what I was told.

Also, the police officer doesn't have to read you your Miranda rights until right before you are charged, either. However, once you are presented with charges to sign, not verbal, you then must be provided with consul...an attorney...and then are entitled to that call.

I know several local officers in my area, and there may be another reason why you waited so long. If you were picked up late at night and on the weekend, a good chance there wasn't anyone at the "desk" to process the paperwork or even authorize the pressing of charges. Thanks to cut-backs here, the local cophouse only has a dispatcher on duty at night...all the officers are out on patrols and don't come into the station house unless it's the end of their shift or they have made an arrest. I think maybe you were caught in a short-handed jail...and had to wait for a bailiff or some other official to show up to process the mountain of paperwork that most arrests now require.

I'd call a legal aid society to see how they read into your situation...both about the arrest and detention (which sounds "kosher") and what happened to your license. Good luck.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

12. Let's be blunt about it:

They can pretty much do whatever the hell they want, and too often they do. Of course, if there are legal ramifications, they will simply get on the stand and lie through their teeth about the circumstances and said lies and embelleshments will be accepted without question.

You like fiction? Go to traffic court. Listen to the police testimony. All too often, fiction is what you will hear from them.

Traffic laws and courts are no longer about the common good. Their primary function is revenue generation and they have been made very efficient at their task.

[Redhead488]

13. As someone who has to drive through Washington DC

on the way to and from work each day, I can attest to your statement that "their primary function is to generate revenue." DC's new "speeding cameras" are not their for public safety, they are their to generate cash for DC's blotted, corrupt government.

[Skidmore]

15. Something similar happened to

my husband in Milwaukee a couple of years ago, only he was never arrested. He was held for 48 hrs. without ever being charged with anything, after only having been given some vague explanation about some kind of outstanding warrant--nature unspecified. He and I were both told that we shouldn't contact a lawyer until he had seen a judge. He never saw a judge and was released without being charged, ordered to make a court appearance, and there was noted that a bond was posted for his release (neither of us posted anything). We retained a lawyer and he returned to Milwaukee for his court date. The judge asked him why he was there, his attorney said that they didn't know. Bsically the judge and the attornies (county & his) apologized to him and they removed the arrest? from the the record. He just wanted to have his record clear but I'm sure they are relieved that we didn't sue them, although I think he should have.

[seabeyond]

16. my brother has a hold on his liscense in nj

has never been there. discription of guy is 5'6", he is 6'2". 1985

has paid a couple thousand for unknown lawyer in nj to take care of it to no avail, the court said 400 and that will take care of it (dui). he did. then they said need 4000 need drunk class and this and that,.......goes back to say wait not me, and all say doesnt matter you paid the money and that says you admitted to guilt

a year now, he is still trying to figure out how to take care of, get off work fly there to prove in court he is not the person

i have a ticket they lost three years. warrant comes out, i pay on twice and still get another 46 dollar left over/ more time goes by get a money order and go down to pay, and they cant find it. cant guarentee i wont be arrested and if kids with me sent to cps........but oh well

but as many say even on this board, if you just follow all the laws wont be a problem. thing, it is a problem. just hasnt effected them yet, when it does though, oh the outrage

[ProdigalJunkMail]

17. well, it looks as if

this has been one big cluster-f*ck from the beginning. After contacting NC about my driving priviledges it appears that they were suspended for a ticket that I KNOW I paid (I still have the receipt). The Sherriff and the County DA and the State AG have all stated that my incarceration and prolonged time without ability to make a phone call was legal but unfortunate...

Looks like I have no recourse...just a frazzled wife and a bunch of paperwork to clear up...

Thanks Gwinnett CO!

theProdigal

[MetaTrope]

19. They must be using Choicepoint's voter registration database

with all those tens of thousands of new "felons" that have just been added in preparation for the election.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

20. guess I'll have to make sure I can vote :-)

this whole thing just pisses me off...

theProdigal