WHAT INFORMATION HAS TO BE ON AN ARREST WARRANT?
Sometimes the black letter law passed by the legislature is unclear. The legislature can’t anticipate every possible fact scenario when they pass a law, so it lay to the courts to interpret the law and give guidance to what it means. This interpretation is called case law. When the court decides a certain meeting to the law it essentially answers a legal question. Lawyers and other courts then can rely on that ruling when they have a similar issue in their case. The following case answers the question above.
State v. Palma, 128 P.3d 999 (Kan. Ct. App. 2006).
This case addresses the following issue:
What information has to be in an arrest warrant?
This case explored the question of what information has to be in an arrest warrant. In exploring this question, the court noted that the purpose for issuing a warrant was to provide the accused with actual notice of the charge or charges against him or her and to insure that the accused appeared before the court for further proceedings. Id. at 1003.
On September 5, 2004, the defendant was stopped for traffic violations and consented to a search where the officers discovered 21 pounds of marijuana in hidden compartments in the car. Id. at 1000. Subsequently, the defendant was arrested and transported to the county jail. Id. Later, the court determined that there was probable cause to believe that the defendant committed the offense of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and there was probable cause for the defendant’s arrest. Id. Eventually, the State filed a complaint against the defendant alleging drug crimes of possession of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of controlled substances without a tax stamp, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Id. at 1000-01. The hearing where the defendant was formally charged took place a month later and the defendant plead guilty. Id. at 1001. At that time, the defendant had not posted bond and was still in custody. Id. The trial court set the sentencing hearing for a month later and released the defendant because no warrant had been issued or served by the State. Id. Consequently, the State appealed the trial court’s release of the defendant due to the lack of a warrant. Id.
In the State’s appeal, the State argued that the issuance of a post-arrest warrant was not required and it was clear error for the trial court to release the defendant on the sole belief that a warrant was required. Id. at 1001. The court first looked to Kansas law which stated that the process of arrest without a warrant and a subsequent judicial finding of probable cause within 48 hours (which occurred in the present case) was a valid substitute for obtaining an arrest warrant. Id. at 1002. Additionally, the court noted that the purpose for issuing a warrant or summons was to provide the accused with actual notice of the charge or charges against him or her and to insure that the accused appeared before the court for further proceedings. Id. at 1003.
The court applied the principles of a Kansas case which held that the issuance of a warrant or summons for the arrest of a defendant already in custody was not required. Id. In applying these principles, the court concluded that the trial court erred in determining that the defendant should have been released from custody because a warrant had not been issued or executed. Id. Furthermore, the court held that the lack of necessity of requiring the State to serve the defendant with a warrant was demonstrated by the fact that he was already in custody for the crime at issue at the time the arrest warrant would have been issued. Id.
In deciding this case, the court determined that the issuance of a warrant or summons for the arrest of a defendant who had already been arrested on probable cause and remained in custody after a probable cause determination by the court was not required by Kansas law. Id. at 1004.