Interviewer: We’ll talk about the arrest a little bit more. Is there a law in Arizona that states people should only be kept in jail for a certain amount of time before they have to see a judge or could they remain there for a long time?
Brian Sloan: There are rules about how long a person can stay in custody before they are arraigned. The problem is – and it doesn’t seem too common anymore – is WHEN someone is coming up on that time. There has been a situation in which a person is released before their arraignment, and then re-arrested. Then, there is another delay before the person actually sees a judge. However, that rarely happens anymore.
I think it’s possibly a bit more common in the immigration field, where they have someone they believe to be an illegal immigrant – this is probably years ago – and they don’t tend to want to release them. They release them and re-arrest them and hold them a little bit longer.
Yes, there are certain requirements. Realistically, even trying to argue with that process will not result in any benefit. They may get the case temporarily dismissed and the officers may be ordered to release the person but then the officers are just going to turn around and arrest them again and start the process all over again.
There are laws that are very difficult to enforce to the benefit of the client but, for the most part, the officers and the courts comply with the law.
