Extradition in Hernando County, FL
When an arrest warrant is issued in Hernando County, FL, but the suspect leaves the state of Florida, the purpose of extradition is to bring the suspect back to Hernando County to face the criminal charges. The authorities will only extradite a person in another state on a felony warrant.
The extradition process typically takes less than 30 days, although it can take up to 60 days to secure the governor’s warrant and arrange to transport the person back to Hernando County, FL. In some cases, an attorney can help you obtain a bond while awaiting extradition.
Although the Extradition clause is federal, each state is allowed to determine the procedures used in that state. Forty-eight states, including the state of Florida, have adopted the Uniform Interstate Extradition Act (UIEA).
Under the UIEA, once the governor of Florida has demanded extradition, and the governor of the asylum state has granted it, then the court in that state decides whether:
- the extradition documents on their face are in order;
- the petitioner has been charged with a crime in the demanding state;
- the petitioner is the person named in the request for extradition; and
- the petitioner is a fugitive.
When those issues are not in dispute, the person awaiting extradition might decide to “waive” the procedural protections found in the UIEA in order to speed up the process.
In some of these cases, the person awaiting extradition will file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in state court or federal court seeking his release from custody. The petition for the writ of habeas corpus typically results in the extradition being stayed pending the expedited appeal.
Attorney for Extradition in Hernando County, FL
If you were arrested in another state pursuant to warrant issued by a judge in Brooksville in Hernando County, FL, then contact a criminal defense attorney at the Sammis Law Firm.
We can help you at every stage of the case, even while you are awaiting extradition back to Florida.
A criminal defense attorney at Sammis Law Firm can also help you decide the best way to resolve the extradition case and the underlying offense. The best defense in a serious felony case pending in Hernando County often requires an aggressive approach.
Let us put our experience to work for you.
Call (813) 250-0500.
What is the Definition of a Fugitive for Justice?
Article IV, § 2, cl. 2 of the United States Constitution, the Extradition Clause, provides:
A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.
In many of these cases, the petitioner will insist that he is not a fugitive from justice as that term is used in the Extradition Clause.
The courts have noted that “flight” from justice typically entails some consciousness of guilt and some effort to avoid arrest. But it has also been determined that under the Extradition Clause:
[t]o be regarded as a fugitive from justice it is not necessary that one shall have left the State in which the crime is alleged to have been committed for the very purpose of avoiding prosecution, but simply that, having committed there an act which by the law of the State constitutes a crime, he afterwards has departed from its jurisdiction and when sought to be prosecuted is found within the territory of another State.
Hogan v. O’Neill, 255 U.S. 52, 56, 41 S.Ct. 222, 223, 65 L.Ed. 497 (1921).
The law does not require that the accused must leave after charges have been filed in order to be considered a fugitive under the Constitution. In other words, it is unnecessary that the person leaves the state after indictment in order to be fugitive from justice.
The accused’s state of mind or knowledge of guilt is not typically proper subjects of inquiry. Even if a person leaves the demanding State before prosecution is anticipated or without knowledge on his part that he has violated any law, he is nevertheless considered to be a “fugitive from justice.”
The language of both the Extradition Clause and of the statute enacted by Congress implementing the Extradition Clause is mandatory, not permissive or discretionary. See U.S. Const. art. IV, § 2, cl. 2.
The purpose of the Extradition Clause is to give each state the ability to offenders to trial as swiftly as possible in the state where the alleged offense was committed. No matter how compelling a prisoner’s defense, it will not form the basis for a denial of extradition either by the asylum state or by a reviewing court.
Extradition proceedings are not typically the appropriate time or place for entertaining defenses or determining the guilt or innocence of the person accused. Instead, those issues are left to the prosecutorial authorities and courts of the demanding State.
Additional Resources
Hernando County Crime Stoppers – Find a list of suspects wanted in Hernando County, FL. The website urges people with information about a fugitive from justice in Hernando County, FL, to call Crime Stoppers or submit a Web Tip through their website. Hernando County Crime Stoppers relies on cooperation between the police, the media, and the general public to encourage the flow of information about fugitives and their whereabouts.
Search for a Warrant in Hernando County – Visit the website for the Sheriff’s Office in Hernando County to find a report on wanted people with active and outstanding warrants in Hernando County, FL. The names listed on the local warrant report are delayed for three (3) days before it is posted on the website. According to its website, the Hernando Sheriff’s Office does not give out warrant information over the phone. The website advises you to take care of the warrant by turning yourself into the Hernando County Jail or Hernando County Sheriff’s Office. The report lists the case number, the warrant number, the type of warrant, the subject name, the subject address, the subject city, and the subject state.
This article was last updated on Friday, June 17, 2022.
