Legal Question in Criminal Law in Arizona

HELP! HELP! HELP!

It's come to my attention in the past twenty-four hours that my PO has changed my status to absconded. I believe that means that there's reason to believe that I have violated my parole, therefore probable cause to issue a detainer or warrant for my arrest. I don't know exactly how this process works which is why I've found myself here.

Now, some background regarding my current situation.

� Sentenced to AZDOC for 12 months on March 19th, 2014. With credit for time served in the amount of 89 days.

� Released on August 26th, 2014 based on my Tentative Release Date (TRD) and placed under Community Supervision for a total of approximately 120 days. My calculated supervision end date at that time was on or around December 25th, 2014.

� At present, the AZDOC website is now showing an adjusted flat maximum of February 1, 2015 with September 9, 2014 listed as the absconded date. The detainer was issued on September 22, 2014 according to the website as well.

Taking into account the info provided above here's a summary of what's transpired and could be used to show probable cause to obtain the issued detainer that now exists.

On September 9, 2014 after being at the halfway house for just over two weeks I found myself in a situation where I was forced to leave by the housing staff. I informed my PO the events that caused my departure at which point she asked if I had another place to go. I did in fact have another place to go at this point and provided her with both the address and contact info of the person and place to seek verification and approval. Shortly following our conversation and providing her with this information it was verified and approved by Parole so that I could continue to stay there. It was briefly discussed at this time that I was actively looking for my own place and as soon as I found or secured a residence more information would be forthcoming so this process could be repeated after finding my own apartment/house.

Over the next few days to stay in touch with Parole and to keep them advised as to the status of my search for my own place I placed multiple calls to my PO. These calls were to keep her informed of the difficulty I was experiencing in securing a place in such a short amount of time. Also I stated that I was actively trying to juggle both work and necessary tasks and/or prerequisites needed to get into a place of my own. At this point I informed her via multiple voice messages at both her office and cell phones that I was still at the address she had recently verified and approved and would be remaining there until I could obtain new residency. I left her my personal cell every time I called and with every message I left.

Since then she's never reached out to express ANY concern or made any attempts to lead me to believe that any agreement we came to had been changed or that there was a pertinent need to reach out to her myself as nothing had changed.

On October 15th I finally secured an apartment of my own and slowly started to make the transition there. On October 18th and October 19th the furniture mainly the new bed and couches I purchased arrived. I would now consider my new apartment habitable and looked to reach out to my PO to inform her of the transition I would be making and anticipation of her visit to FINALLY approve my own place of residency.

On October 20th, 2014 I sat down to write her an email which was to include an attachment of the lease agreement recently signed, the address of my apartment, and contact information where I could be reached to schedule our meeting. Right before sending the email to her and as I randomly have done I made another visit to the AZDOC's website when I discovered that the status of my parole had been altered almost an entire month earlier.

This was a bombshell for me so much so that I've already had an anxiety attack I feel of epic proportions and I'm so distraught that I haven't a clue what to do next.

Honestly, right now I'm scared to proceed with immediate contact for fear of losing my new place without ample time to secure and make arrangements for keeping them in my absence.

So ultimately I've got a few questions that maybe someone with the expertise necessary can answer and help me make the appropriate decisions moving forward. Here's what I'd like to know, anyone whom can help I would really appreciate your advice. This is all new to me and the fear of the unknown is haunting me right now not to mention I could stand to lose what I've just worked so hard to obtain.

� Can Parole or my Parole Officer rescind or retract the detainer/warrant that has already been placed? Read the next bullet for clarification...

� I'm currently a minimum security parolee. Based on my low level and threat to the community I'm allowed to have two months without a face-to-face meeting with an officer according to AZDOC Parole Policies. That being said, can I really be listed as absconded? Is this fair to have made this change in the status of my parole due to me still being within those guidelines? What should I do?

I'm crushed and right now at wits end because I am doing everything I should be doing:

� working as a productive member of society

� securing my own place within society again

� remaining drug/alcohol free as it's so easy to return to

It's crazy to assume a lapse of communication and oversight on both parts could lead to complete destruction and forfeiture of all I have worked SO HARD to obtain in the past couple of months!

Thanks in advance for your time and assistance with this sticky situation. I really, really appreciate any help that can be offered or provided.

Sincerely,

Cori

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