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Is this normal police action?

You knew they conducted a search warrant at your residence and they would have had to leave a copy of the search warrant and inventory seized form. Why not contact LE if you had questions or wanted to know if you were being charged?

I DID contact LE after speaking with a student legal services attorney. Attorney told me to expect a call from the police. Call never came. Called LE after a few weeks and they wouldn't talk to me. "We're not going to tell you if you have a warrant..."
 
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I DID contact LE after speaking with a student legal services attorney. Attorney told me to expect a call from the police. Call never came. Called LE after a few weeks and they wouldn't talk to me. "We're not going to tell you if you have a warrant..."

Seems to me they just didn’t want to ruin the surprise.
 
Since you seem to have the expertise here, where was the ball dropped in allowing me the opportunity to take responsibility for my criminal malfeasance in a more timely manner? This original search warrant was executed in March. I found out I had a warrant in August. Cops found enough to charge my roommate with intent to deliver weed, but they busted probably the least successful pot dealer in my apartment building because they got a bad tip about steroids from a bust in another county which is supposedly what they interrogated my roommate about. So my guess is, not having found a steroid ring, the detective thought following up with me was a total waste of time. They just file their paperwork for the DA's office and slink home? Is the DA supposed to refer my warrant to a state marshal or is their policy just to assume I'm going to slip up legally before an outstanding warrant for a misdemeanor has a chance to mess something up for me? It's indefensible, sorry.

I really don’t see a ball being dropped, so I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree there.

We don’t have DA’s in Iowa, we have county attorneys. You should probably not take everything you see on TV and apply it to real life. But anyway.

Something like your situation, the roommate either ratted you out on the paraphernalia or it was found in your bedroom, bag, etc. The officer must of had some probable cause linking it to you in order to submit a warrant request to judge that was subsequently ordered.

On a warrant for possession of drug paraphernalia, they’re going to issue it and enter it into NCIC. (Someone running your name in Wisconsin or Minnesota wouldn’t even see it if it were just for Johnson Co, bordering counties, 100 miles. It would be Iowa only basically that would see it). They won’t contact you, likely not go looking for you in most cities, nor would they contact the state marshal (DCI?). They will just wait for your next interaction with law enforcement and handle it then.

Even more, by the sounds of it, you interacted with law enforcement outside the limits of extradition. He was not obligated to inform you about your warrant in Johnson Co. Many times they won’t.

As for the original cops slinking home. They probably went home feeling quite alright getting a felon off the streets.
 
Seems to me they just didn’t want to ruin the surprise.

They also don't tell you to turn yourself in at like 3-4 am so you don't spend much time in holding after being processed before you get to see a judge for a bail hearing. So I turned myself in at like 2 or 3 PM thinking it was plenty of time before the bail judge called it quits for the day. Oops. I take that back, one of the very helpful sheriff deputy's who inspected my rectum the previous afternoon found out, after I had been released on recognizance, that I had turned myself in the day before. That's when I learned to turn myself in at 3am next time.
 
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This isn't really relevant. A bench warrant is issued for violating the rules of the court...generally a failure to appear that you are fully aware of. In CP's case, he's claiming they issued an arrest warrant - yes, signed by a judge - that he wasn't made aware of. The judge isn't the person responsible for making that arrest or notification but someone should be...wouldn't you think?

I was pointing out that the courts don’t mail or call on bench warrants either. Are judges vindictive and incompetent too?

I was also pointing out that the police don’t issue arrest warrants, they request them. Something I don’t think CP fully understands / understood.
 
I really don’t see a ball being dropped, so I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree there.

We don’t have DA’s in Iowa, we have county attorneys. You should probably not take everything you see on TV and apply it to real life. But anyway.

Something like your situation, the roommate either ratted you out on the paraphernalia or it was found in your bedroom, bag, etc. The officer must of had some probable cause linking it to you in order to submit a warrant request to judge that was subsequently ordered.

On a warrant for possession of drug paraphernalia, they’re going to issue it and enter it into NCIC. (Someone running your name in Wisconsin or Minnesota wouldn’t even see it if it were just for Johnson Co, bordering counties, 100 miles. It would be Iowa only basically that would see it). They won’t contact you, likely not go looking for you in most cities, nor would they contact the state marshal (DCI?). They will just wait for your next interaction with law enforcement and handle it then.

Even more, by the sounds of it, you interacted with law enforcement outside the limits of extradition. He was not obligated to inform you about your warrant in Johnson Co. Many times they won’t.

Got it. All cops are bad as well as the administrative agencies they deal with.
 
They also don't tell you to turn yourself in at like 3-4 am so you don't spend much time in holding after being processed before you get to see a judge for a bail hearing. So I turned myself in at like 2 or 3 PM thinking it was plenty of time before the bail judge called it quits for the day. Oops. I take that back, one of the very helpful sheriff deputy's who inspected my rectum the previous afternoon found out, after I had been released on recognizance, that I had turned myself in the day before. That's when I learned to turn myself in at 3am next time.

You probably could have turned yourself into court, when in session, spoke with the judge. A guilty plea on Paraphernalia is about $65 and court costs. No jail needed. Hindsight is always 20/20.
 
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You probably could have turned yourself into court, when in session, spoke with the judge. A guilty plea on Paraphernalia is about $65 and court costs. No jail needed. Hindsight is always 20/20.
Paraphernalia charge was dropped at pretrial conference. Simple misdemeanor so what's it matter to the prosecutor or judge. Along with the bullshit aggravated misdemeanor "keeping a drug house" charge (designed for trap houses) that gets tacked on every single drug bust to increase bail. I pled guilty to serious misdemeanor possession of marijuana. No going straight to court when you are charged with serious or aggravated misdemeanors. They have to take your prints and inspect your rectum.
 
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Paraphernalia charge was dropped at pretrial conference. Simple misdemeanor so what's it matter to the prosecutor or judge. Along with the bullshit "keeping a drug house" charge (designed for trap houses) that gets tacked on every single drug bust to increase bail. I pled guilty to serious misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

My apologies, I misread the previous post. I thought you just had paraphernalia. Surprised they wouldn’t extradite statewide on that.

Possession is a little more serious than paraphernalia. They generally don’t let you plead at your initial appearance on that because it’s an indictable offense. I’m assuming that you had to go through the legal proceedings before being allowed to plea on that. Regardless, had you went to court instead of turning yourself into the jail, the judge would have released you on your recognizance based off of you having a pretty good record (I assume).
 
My apologies, I misread the previous post. I thought you just had paraphernalia. Surprised they wouldn’t extradite statewide on that.

Possession is a little more serious than paraphernalia. They generally don’t let you plead at your initial appearance on that because it’s an indictable offense. I’m assuming that you had to go through the legal proceedings before being allowed to plea on that. Regardless, had you went to court instead of turning yourself into the jail, the judge would have released you on your recognizance based off of you having a pretty good record (I assume).

I was released on recognizance after bail hearing following my day camp in holding. Why wouldn't they have escorted me to the jail if I turned myself into the court house instead of the jail? They need my prints for any serious or aggravated misdemeanor, do they not?
 
I was released on recognizance after bail hearing following my day camp in holding. Why wouldn't they have escorted me to the jail if I turned myself into the court house instead of the jail? They need my prints for any serious or aggravated misdemeanor, do they not?
Once convicted.
 
Once convicted.

Hmmm. Irrelevant hypothetical, but now I'm curious. If I had been found innocent of all charges, would Johnson County Jail and whoever they shared my prints with have been required to delete my prints that they got when I was booked before my trial?
 
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I was released on recognizance after bail hearing following my day camp in holding. Why wouldn't they have escorted me to the jail if I turned myself into the court house instead of the jail? They need my prints for any serious or aggravated misdemeanor, do they not?

I’m sure it’s different in all 99 counties, but believe it or not, the courthouse has holding cells too. The bailiffs would have likely taken you “into custody” and waited until the judge was ready for your turn.

As a part of your order of initial appearance, it would have been ordered to have your finger prints taken. You’d then contact the sheriff’s office to set that up based off of their procedure. The sheriff’s office conducts a lot of fingerprinting beyond in custody arrests.
 
Hmmm. Irrelevant hypothetical, but now I'm curious. If I had been found innocent of all charges, would Johnson County Jail and whatever data they share with DCI have been required to delete my prints they got when I was booked before my trial?

Your prints would be deleted by DCI. Every print that goes their way is accompanied by a disposition sheet too.

Local agencies can and do keep a hard copy or digital copy of them though. Not all do, but I’d bet a majority of the larger departments do.
 
I’m sure it’s different in all 99 counties, but believe it or not, the courthouse has holding cells too. The bailiffs would have likely taken you “into custody” and waited until the judge was ready for your turn.

I'm also now curious if I would have enjoyed holding more at the courthouse or the jail. The holding cell at JoCo jail was almost kind of fun for the first twoish hours when there were only 3 of us in there. One dude was napping but not snoring and me and the other dude were basically having a "get-to-know-someone-from-a-different-clique" Breakfast Club kind of moment.

He was visiting his child and child's mother but the landlord of her apartment didn't approve of his presence on the premises so he was booked for trespassing at like 11AM. He was fun to talk to until guest #4 showed up to ruin things. Guest #4 had just been picked up with meth precursor underneath the Iowa River bridge he called home and precursor was his official charge, but he had very clearly just used meth almost immediately before he was picked up. Until his meth wore off, we were all treated to him endlessly quoting "Daddy would you like some sausages?" from Freddie Got Fingered. It took until holding started filling up with public intoxes before the tweaker stopped trying to befriend everyone and talk about Tom Green. Food was better than my public high school.
 
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I'm also now curious if I would have enjoyed holding more at the courthouse or the jail. The holding cell at JoCo jail was almost kind of fun for the first twoish hours when there were only 3 of us in there. One dude was napping but not snoring and me and the other dude were basically having a "get-to-know-someone-from-a-different-clique" Breakfast Club kind of moment.

He was visiting his child and child's mother but the landlord of her apartment didn't approve of his presence on the premises so he was booked for trespassing at like 11AM. He was fun to talk to until guest #4 showed up to ruin things. Guest #4 had just been picked up with meth precursor underneath the Iowa River bridge he called home and precursor was his official charge, but he had very clearly just used meth almost immediately before he was picked up. Until his meth wore off, we were all treated to him endlessly quoting "Daddy would you like some sausages?" from Freddie Got Fingered. It took until holding started filling up with public intoxes before the tweaker stopped trying to befriend everyone and talk about Tom Green. Food was better than my public high school.

Im guessing the courthouse ones would be better for someone like you who’s not accustomed to the fine hospitality of the Johnson Co Jail. Unlike the Backwards Man, the Backwards Man ‘I can walk backwards as fast as you can’.

That’s the thing about jail, you never get to pick your cell mate(s). It is the county’s mental hospital. Also the first step in many drug rehab programs. Meth is the damndest thing out there. It is making a huge comeback or at least as strong as it’s ever been.


freddy-got-fingered-backwards-man.gif
 
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I found a credit card on the sidewalk at a downtown music event, turned it over to two policemen. They took all my info, name address phone number, and that of my girlfriend that was with me. About 30 minutes later my girlfriend gets a call from a friend, she asked if she was alright. She said yes, why do you ask. Friend said she heard her name on the scanner. I later asked the two officers why they ran both of us. They said it was for their report and not that they were trying to to see if we had any warrants. The one officer says you both came back clean . So why did they run us, hoping to make an easy arrest?

And some people wonder why so many don't trust cops.
 
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Meth is the damndest thing out there. It is making a huge comeback or at least as strong as it’s ever been.


freddy-got-fingered-backwards-man.gif

Friends of Bill W in Des Moines are active with a lot former meth users, I think it's more popular than opiates or benzos in central Iowa.
 
I was pointing out that the courts don’t mail or call on bench warrants either. Are judges vindictive and incompetent too?

I was also pointing out that the police don’t issue arrest warrants, they request them. Something I don’t think CP fully understands / understood.
And I was pointing out that a bench warrant is for violating court rules. As stated, that most often involves a failure to appear. Most of us know when we’re supposed to be in court and know if we deliberately decide to no-show. A bench warrant doesn’t come out of the blue so it’s irrelevant to the situation discussed here. So to answer your question, no.

As for the rest, and I think those in law enforcement would agree - a judge signing an arrest warrant is a pro forma duty especially in the case of petty crimes. It’s the police who determine whether the offense “warrants” an arrest and it’s the police who execute…or don’t execute…the warrant. Seems a minimal but necessary step would be making a good faith attempt to let someone know they’ve decided that person needs to be brought in. Either arrest them or let them know they need to come in? The “it’s too much work” excuse doesn’t work for me. If they’re too busy to make that attempt, they should probably just skip the warrant “request”. Do you disagree?
 
It's BAU though it could have been worse. These divers find stolen property in a river and then the cop rages on them when they wish to turn it in anonymously.
Cops HATE when you tell them no even though you may be totally within your constitutional rights to tell them no. They don't want their authority questioned even when they are overstepping their lawful authority boundaries.
 
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Cops HATE when you tell them no even though you may be totally within your constitutional rights to tell them no. They don't want their authority questioned even when they are overstepping their lawful authority boundaries.
I love when people talk as if they know what they are talking about.
 
Got it, cops are frightened, insecure, lazy, and inconsiderate jerks who are too chickenshit to alert a citizen about a misdemeanor arrest warrant because they think someone with no history is going to flee the state or shoot at cops instead of get their slap on the wrist over with like 99.99% of people would in that situation. Heroes.
You come across as a bigger pos than the cops
Johnson County/ICPD won't go a mile to knock on my door during the day when they issued an arrest warrant for me for a misdemeanor knowing my address and phone number, but they'll drive to Amana Colonies if I have a tire blowout and a sheriff's deputy stops by to help and I f*ck up and give him my real name or he runs my plates. Hell of a system you got there.
You know, forget I even added that part. Because I did take responsibility for it, which you seem to be ignoring. Apparently because I'm the criminal, your kind and your partners in the court system have no obligation to inform me that I'm wanted.
How old are you? Nine?
 
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