Monday, May 3, 2010

What's that about any publicity is good publicity?

This is probably not the way Officer George Simpson of the Galveston Police Department wanted to see his name in The Police News. It is amazing how quickly he was indicted, considering there are some inmates at the Galveston County Jail who still haven't been indicted months after their arrest.

2 comments:

jdgalt said...

Please forgive me if this is a dumb question, but aren't all those not-yet-charged people entitled to an automatic habeas-corpus release after three days? Or has the administration started labeling non-terror-related suspects as "enemy combatants" indiscriminately?

Paul B. Kennedy said...

A defendant is entitled to a probable cause hearing within 72 hours of arrest. This usually consists of the prosecutor reading from the offense report and the judge mumbling something about finding probable cause in there somewhere. There are exceptions, however, in which a judge listens critically and holds the state to its burden.