- Joined
- Jan 27, 2010
- Messages
- 4,456
- Reaction score
- 637
I've seen cop shows where the police don't actually arrest people, but make them believe that they have to stay in the police station. I'm interested using this with my characters - the goal of the scene is to show that my MC has grown up and will assert herself by insisting that they no longer be held. But I'm not sure if this is possible.
The scenario as it stands: Montana, present day: A Sheriff, his Deputy, a suspected (but not proven) drug dealer and a model citizen were attached by a group of bad guys. The Sheriff is killed, the other three manage to gun down a bunch of the badies and then escape. They make it to safety, call the relevant people to report the situation, AND to report that the Sheriff and a DEA agent were corrupt and working with drug dealers.
The shootout happens early morning, but they're way off in the bush, so they probably don't get face time with cops (I believe the FBI would investigate the corrupt sheriff - do they also investigate corrupt DEA agents?) until late morning or early afternoon. I have them being taken to the Sheriff's office and taken to separate interrogation rooms for questioning.
By midnight, they're still there, and I want my MC to assert herself and insist that they be allowed to get some rest. Right now, I've got the feds saying things like "Why don't you want to cooperate? Do you have something to hide?" to get her to stay, but I want her to come right out and ask whether she's legally required to stay.
My questions are:
IS she required to stay? My research is turning up words like 'reasonable', and I don't have a frame of reference to interpret that. All three characters killed at least one of the attackers, if that matters, but I think it should be pretty clear that it was self-defense.
If she IS required to stay, does that mean she's under arrest? And then they can hold her for however long (24 hours?) before charging her? Does the waiting period start when they first see her, or not until she first tries to leave?
Assuming that she is allowed to leave, what's the magic question she needs to ask to make this clear? I'm think it's just "Am I legally required to stay?" but if there's something more formal, that'd be great.
Anything else? Am I totally off base with all this?
The scenario as it stands: Montana, present day: A Sheriff, his Deputy, a suspected (but not proven) drug dealer and a model citizen were attached by a group of bad guys. The Sheriff is killed, the other three manage to gun down a bunch of the badies and then escape. They make it to safety, call the relevant people to report the situation, AND to report that the Sheriff and a DEA agent were corrupt and working with drug dealers.
The shootout happens early morning, but they're way off in the bush, so they probably don't get face time with cops (I believe the FBI would investigate the corrupt sheriff - do they also investigate corrupt DEA agents?) until late morning or early afternoon. I have them being taken to the Sheriff's office and taken to separate interrogation rooms for questioning.
By midnight, they're still there, and I want my MC to assert herself and insist that they be allowed to get some rest. Right now, I've got the feds saying things like "Why don't you want to cooperate? Do you have something to hide?" to get her to stay, but I want her to come right out and ask whether she's legally required to stay.
My questions are:
IS she required to stay? My research is turning up words like 'reasonable', and I don't have a frame of reference to interpret that. All three characters killed at least one of the attackers, if that matters, but I think it should be pretty clear that it was self-defense.
If she IS required to stay, does that mean she's under arrest? And then they can hold her for however long (24 hours?) before charging her? Does the waiting period start when they first see her, or not until she first tries to leave?
Assuming that she is allowed to leave, what's the magic question she needs to ask to make this clear? I'm think it's just "Am I legally required to stay?" but if there's something more formal, that'd be great.
Anything else? Am I totally off base with all this?