What’s Going On?
If you’ve never been arrested, and don’t know anyone who’s been there before, one of the hardest parts of this process is worrying about what’s happening to the person who called you for help. This is an outline of what their experience has probably been like since being arrested.
Upon being arrested, both hands were cuffed behind her back. The police then performed what’s called an inventory search - they’ll have patted her down and gone through her pockets. If she was driving at the time of arrest, they’ll also have done an inventory search of her car. Ostensibly, this is a liability issue, to ensure that she can’t claim that the tow-truck driver stole a briefcase full of diamonds out of the trunk, but if they find anything illegal in the search, there will be additional charges. Depending on the officer’s disposition, they may have let her take her purse out of the car, or call a friend or family member on her cell phone. They’re under no obligation to do these things, however.
She was then taken to central booking, in downtown Austin. The car ride has been videotaped, and anything that happened in the back of the car can be used as evidence - yelling at the officer, pounding the windows, etc, will not help her case.
At this point, it’s probably been about an hour since the arrest, and the officer is now typing up the paperwork, including the Probable Cause Affidavit, which explains to the sheriff why they’ve taken her to jail. She’s sitting in a waiting room while this is happening.
After that’s finished, she’ll be fingerprinted, and they’ll take digital photos - the mugshots. They’ll then run her name and prints to see if there are other warrants or holds out of county.
Two hours in, and she’ll be waiting in the lobby. At this point, she’ll still be wearing her regular clothes - they may have made her take her belt off, perhaps. It’s kind of like an airport terminal. There are blue plastic chairs to sit in and TVs to watch. There’s one phone for collect calls, and a list of bail bondsmen.
Eventually, they’ll call her name and tell her to go to property. There, they’ll take an inventory of everything she has on her person - (”1 watch, 1 wallet with $23 cash, 1 silver ring”) and take her clothes, giving her the striped jail clothes. She’ll get her cell assignment and move to another area.
These areas are kind of like pods with phones in the middle, and rooms off of the pod. Sometimes they’re crowded, and sometimes they’re not, depending on the time of day and what else is happening.
This is roughly 3-4 hours since the arrest, and it’s a strange time - essentially, she’s off the grid. She hasn’t been booked yet, so she’s not in the database. No one knows where she is. Even if she called you the moment she got arrested, a lawyer usually can’t find her until she’s been booked in and is in the system. Until then, she’s just another person in a big room. Sometimes, if they’re feeling helpful, they’ll call out her name if we ask them to, and we can get started a little earlier. But, again, they’re certainly not obligated to do that. If she’s not in the computer, she doesn’t exist yet.
The hardest thing, once she’s in her cell, is the fact that there’s no orientation. It’s scary and strange. There aren’t really any friendly faces at this point in the process. Requests - or demands - are made, and there’s not much in the way of identifying what’s going on.
Eventually, she’ll be called to come down to pre-trial services for an interview. They’ll be looking to see if she’s eligible for a personal bond. They’ll ask a number of questions and ask for four personal references. If she is eligible for a personal bond, she can be released on her own recognizance.
Some people have what’s called a “green sheet”, which means they have an out-of-county hold or a very serious charge, and there’s no chance of a personal bond. Some people don’t know who pre-trial services are, and they refuse to talk to them. They’re there to help get people out of jail.
This process is long and depends on how many other people are there. After about 8-12 hours, depending how many other people there are, they’ll start calling her references. If there’s no answer, she goes back to the bottom of the stack. If this goes well, the judge can order her released on a personal bond.
From there, it takes about two hours to get out and get her things back from property.
The worst part of this process is that there’s no way to get information to the person in jail. She’s pretty much relegated to talking to the other people who’ve been arrested, some of whom have experience in these matters, for the heads-up on what’s going on.
Hiring a lawyer gives her a friendly face who’s there to explain things, look out for her best interests, and make sure she skips to the front of the line. It also ensures she can get messages out of jail - to her boss, if she has to be at work, or to make sure someone else can pick up the kids. We can make sure those phone calls are made.
To make this process as quick, easy, and painless as possible, CALL US.