Can citizens ask the police to have Blackwell arrested for election fraud?

[Vote4Kerry]

I was wondering whether or not citizens could ask the police to have Blackwell arrested for his election crimes against our country. I was reading in another post that Blackwell has violated numerous Ohio laws. Here is one example, posted by another DUer:
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"Now, here is the kicker. Blackwell not only did not have the authority to take this action, he is actually in violation of the law. Ohio Revised Code Title XXXV Elections, Sec. 3503.26 that requires all election records to be made available for public inspection and copying. ORC Sec. 3599.161 makes it a crime for any employee of the Board of Elections to knowingly prevent or prohibit any person from inspecting the public records filed in the office of the Board of Elections. Lastly, ORC Sec. 3599.42 states: “A violation of any provision of Title XXXV (35) of the Revised Code constitutes a prima facie case of election fraud within the purview of such Title.”

http://www.opednews.com/wade_121204_election_smoking_gun.htm
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So, if Blackwell is clearly violating the law, why can't ordinary citizens request that the police arrest him? This guy needs to be behind bars right now!!

[In Truth We Trust]

1. I suggested a citizens arrest when I heard his latest travesty. Posse Up P

People! We MUST demand JUSTICE.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[disillusioned1]

3. Call the US Marshalls and ask them

It seems like a job for the Marshalls.

[jbond56]

4. scary but in KY

Kentucky law holds that a person witnessing a felony must take affirmative steps to prevent it, if possible. (See Gill v. Commonwealth, 235 KY 351 (1930.)

Indeed, Kentucky citizens are permitted to kill fleeing felons while making a citizen's arrest (Kentucky Criminal Code § 37; S 43, §44.)

[Vidar]

17. He could, ahem, fall over the border.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

5. Hey!! This might answer your question:

Rather than read, and attempt to decipher alone, here is the link:
http://www.constitution.org/grossack/arrest.htm

[eowyn_of_rohan]

7. Citizen's arrest- part 1

A strong argument can be made that the right to make a citizen's arrest is a constitutionally protected right under the Ninth Amendment as its impact includes the individual's natural right to self preservation and the defense of the others. Indeed, the laws of citizens arrest appear to be predicated upon the effectiveness of the Second Amendment. Simply put, without firepower, people are less likely going to be able to make a citizen's arrest.

[merh]

6. File complaints with th Attorney General's office, if he doesn't

do anything, his ass is on the line for protecting his rethug cronie -- demand that the elected officals do their damned jobs!

[pbartch]

10. YOU FOLKS IN OHIO.....git yer butts in gear and arrest Blackwell !!!!!!!!.

SUE HIM!!!!

band together and get an attorney who wants to make a name for themselves.

Gees.........this would be sooooooo cool to do. You'd be on all the talk shows, be on the front page of papers (including the National Enquirer) and I'll bet Donald Trump would offer you a job!!!!!!!

[proudbluestater]

8. If Blackwell were a Dem he would have been put in jail last week

[eowyn_of_rohan]

9. Do you know if he has committed a felony?

This might be a determining factor in ability to make a citizens arrest

[TrustingDog]

13. do police only arrest people that are already proven guilty?

or is there some other process in there that I'm missing....

[eowyn_of_rohan]

22. No, you didn't miss anything

I got sidetracked by the idea of a citizen's arrest.

[jbond56]

11. in ohio

http://www.ohiocitylaw.com/your_rights_when_arrested.htm

Citizen's arrest

A citizen may arrest you without a warrant if you have committed a felony. He must tell you the reason for the arrest unless it is not practical to do so.

You may sue a private individual for unlawful arrest if you did not commit any crime, even if the individual had reasonable cause to believe you had committed a crime.

You may use reasonable force to resist an unlawful arrest being made by a private citizen.

If you are arrested by a private citizen you must be taken before a judge or turned over to a police officer "without unnecessary delay."

[in_cog_ni_to]

12. A group with handcuffs in hand

needs to visit that slime ball and haul his ass to jail. :grr:

[proud patriot]

14. We need an arrest warrant

for that we need a judge .

[texpatriot2004]

18. Any judge? Any state?

[geo]

15. I would talk to the lawyers about this...

As much as I'd love to see Mr. Blackwell charged for nothing less than the records debacle in Greene county, we should really pursue the advice of an attorney on the matter before anyone goes all gung-ho. There could be major consequences to this, and those consequences should be known before heading in.

I'd love to see this though... I have to admit. :)

Warmly,

George

[merh]

16. What's the harm in filing a complaint with the Attorney General?

He has taken an oath to uphold the laws of the State, if he fails to do so he has violated the laws. He shouldn't be allowed to violate his oath of office just because he is a rethug.

[geo]

19. no harm whatsoever...

I was just talking about the citizen's arrest aspect of it... :) -G

[merh]

20. Gosh, no citizens arrest, no vigilantes. Put the AG in a bad spot

make him follow his oath. File with local DA in the County where he stopped the count.

[Vote4Kerry]

21. Thanks guys..Here is Blackwell's specific crime which we should get him

for:

Ohio Revised Code Title XXXV Elections, Sec. 3503.26 that requires all election records to be made available for public inspection and copying. ORC Sec. 3599.161 makes it a crime for any employee of the Board of Elections to knowingly prevent or prohibit any person from inspecting the public records filed in the office of the Board of Elections. Lastly, ORC Sec. 3599.42 states: “A violation of any provision of Title XXXV (35) of the Revised Code constitutes a prima facie case of election fraud within the purview of such Title.”

http://www.opednews.com/wade_121204_election_smoking_gun.htm
-----------------------------

How hard is it to file a complaint with the DA's office? I don't live in Ohio, so maybe you guys in the buckeye state could help out!! If this was in Massachusetts, his ass would already be locked up! Let's get the DA involved, folks!

[Paligal]

25. But is election fraud a felony or misdemenor?

If citizens are going to do this, they must be hyper-aware of several factors:

1. They MUST have his specific felony on hand with proof that he committed this (affadavit?) because he can sue them for false arrest

2. He will likely bar them from entering his office.

3. If they do gain access to him, he and any body guards will react violently, most likely. Therefore it would be wiser to bring charges against him formally or call the cops on him.

I would love to see him arrested by a group of citizens, but only if they did it quite legitimately and weren't portrayed as conspiracy nutcases by the media. That would mean having very calm, levelheaded people with documented evidence on hand, including the specific law he broke, to show the media.

[Vote4Kerry]

23. Does the DA have to file a complaint if the citizen requests it?

How does that work in Ohio?

[Must_B_Free]

24. Arrest his body guards too if they attempt to interfere

bring handcuffs and bouncers. And a copy of the the charges.

They will call the police, then turn him over to the police he has called.

[Red State Blues]

26. Stop Stop Stop!

At BEST this stunt will result in jail time.

It might be cool to do it symbolically (in effigy) at a protest.

If you want to do the real thing, you would first try to convince the police to DO it. The way these things usually work would be if you witness a felony and a cop soon after appears on the scene who did not witness the event. You can then demand that the cop help you with the citizens' arrest BUT you will still be open to prosecution for wrongful arrest.

Barging into a Secretary of State's Office with Bouncers and handcuffs could get people killed.