About Criminal Law & Your Rights

Being Taken Into Custody

[Photo] A suspect behind bars.

After you have been arrested, you may be taken into custody and brought to a detention facility. At the detention facility, your arrest will be registered into police records and you may be fingerprinted and photographed. After you have been taken into custody, you or your lawyer can make arrangement for your release while you are waiting for your trial.

You may be asked to participate in a lineup. This is a procedure in which several people, including one or more suspects, are shown to victims or witnesses of a crime to see if they can identify the one who committed it. If you are asked to participate in a lineup, you have a right to have your attorney present.

If you are confined in a detention facility, it may be several hours to a couple of days before you appear before a judge who can consider releasing you. Do your best to stay calm, and do not discuss the circumstances of the alleged crime with others. Any statements you make may be reported to the police and used against you.

If you are accused of a less serious crime, such as a minor traffic violation, the police may ask you to sign a citation instead of taking you into custody. If you sign the citation, you are promising to appear in court, but you are not admitting guilt. If you have no identification or refuse to sign the citation, the police may take you into custody.

Getting Released From Custody

After the arrest, you will be brought before a judge to be formally charged with a crime and provided an opportunity to be released while awaiting a trial. If you appear in court without a lawyer, the judge must allow you a reasonable time to find one before proceeding with the case. You might be required to post bail, or you may be released on your promise to appear in court. Bail is money or other property deposited with the court to ensure that you will appear for your trial. To decide whether to require bail, the judge will consider various factors, such as your family ties, financial resources, employment record, and the seriousness of the crime you have been charged with.

Being Detained

You can be detained without being arrested if the police suspect that you are engaging in criminal activity or that you might be armed. For example, the police may ask you to identify yourself and conduct a limited search for weapons if they observe you pacing in front of a closed store in the dark. Or a store owner or employee might detain you for a reasonable time for questioning if they have a strong reason to believe that you have stolen or have attempted to steal something.

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