Legal Question in Criminal Law in United States

A good friend of mine was arrested for armed robbery when he was 18 and was convicted to 15 years. He was then extracted to Arizona to appear on the same charge and was sentenced to 18 years. He served his 15 years in California and then released. He informed them that he still owed Az. the 18 and they said there was no hold and released him. Five years have gone by and in that time he completes parole with flying colors, has held down a job and is a law abiding tax paying citizen. When he completed his parole, he again asked his PO about the 18 years in Arizona. His PO checks and says there are no wants, warrants or holds showing in Arizona or anywhere else and says he has completed his parole and sends him on his way. Fast forward 5 years and he is now 38 years old. In the past five years he has held down a job, paid his taxes and is a law abiding citizen. So he is at home the other day and Marshalls call him outside, tackle him and says he is a fugitive. He is now awaiting an extradition hearing. How is this possible? He does not belong in jail anymore for what he did when he was a stupid 18 year old kid. He has turned his life around and this will just ruin him. Does he have any defense in this case?


Asked on 7/11/16, 4:37 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

You say your friend "does not belong in jail anymore for what he did when he was a stupid 18 year old kid." The courts disagree. If he'd been sent to prison in Arizona as soon as he was released in California, he would still be behind bars and would have 13 more years to go. Actions have consequences, even for stupid 18-year olds.

You say that the Arizona and California cases involved "the same charge," but it's unlikely that they involved the same armed robbery. Your friend probably committed multiple robberies in multiple states. There's a reason he was sentenced to 18 years for his Arizona crime, and there is no good reason to let him off the hook for a sentence that has already been handed down. That he was a law-abiding citizen for five years could matter in other contexts, but it won't excuse him from his sentence.

If your friend is charged with being a fugitive, he might be able to beat that particular charge by showing he tried to find out about the status of his case. But that argument may not get him very far. He'd already been charged, extradited, tried, convicted, and sentenced. After all that, he could not reasonably believe that the charges had been dropped -- especially when nobody from Arizona had told him so. I don't know why California parole officers couldn't find the Arizona charges, but it doesn't matter. If they messed up, Arizona isn't responsible for their mistakes. Even if Arizona failed to make information about the case available to law enforcement, the fact remains that your friend knew about the case already. If he'd really wanted to know the status of his case in Arizona, he should have asked the lawyer who represented him in that case. He could also have asked the court, or even the prosecutors. He very likely knew he still had to serve the sentence and that he'd be apprehended some day.

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Answered on 7/11/16, 10:13 am


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