Legal Question in Criminal Law in Louisiana

question regarding extradicting procedures

my lil brother (who is 15) got arrested for walking into the neighbors house while intoxicated. the charge was criminal trespassing. the terms of his bail were to remain under house arrest until his trial. my mother decided to cut off his ankle bracelet and sent him to reside with his father in lousiana (they are from colorado)i reside in louisiana and when i picked my brother up he had told me the story, and thathis father was smoking crack .so i called his social workers in colorado, explain to them what happened, and try to get his charges transferred here.anyways his social workers told me that he has to go back and face the charges. at the same time my mother gave power of attorney of him over to me. they stated to me that his charges might only warrant him to do probation and that could probably get transferred here to lousiana. the social workers are telling me that they want me to cover the charges to send him.1) are those warrants nationwide warrants or just in colorado? in other words would he get in trouble if i just kept him here? 2)would i get into any trouble for harboring him and not sending him back. i feel they arent too worried about it since they are wanting me to cover the cost to send him back there


Asked on 8/08/02, 2:08 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Andrew Casanave Andrew M. Casanave

Re: question regarding extradicting procedures

The warrant is real and might be on the NCIC (which is a national warrant database available to all law enforcement). Because trespassing is not a major crime, Colorado doesn't want to spend the money to bring him back. He still might get arrested in Louisiana (or anywhere else) and held until Colorado either picks him up or dismisses the warrant (could be weeks).

The fact that he cut off the ankle bracelet and left the state will make it hard for any judge to let him out on bail.

Your brother could be as innocent as the passenger in a car wreck and find himself locked up because of the warrant. Your mother should contact a Colorado lawyer for herself and your brother, she might be in worse trouble than him, to find a permanent solution to this problem.

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Answered on 8/08/02, 6:39 am
Nick Pizzolatto, Jr. Pizzolatto Law Office

Re: question regarding extradicting procedures

To answer the remainder of your question, as an adult, you could be in more trouble than your brother. Since he is a minor, the punishment for his crime will probably not be very severe. However, your brother is technically a bail jumping fugitive. Since you are aware of that, you could be charged with a number of crimes. Harboring a fugitive, contributing to the delinquency of a minor are 2 possible charges. If he goes back and the court sees that he will live with you, there is a chance the court will simply put him into your custody and give him a period of probation which can be transferred to LA. My advice is get him to CO. and have him take care of his problem and then get him into school.

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Answered on 8/08/02, 9:29 am


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