will i be okay?

[lisaofliverpool]

hi

about 3 months ago I was visiting a friend in Cleveland, Ohio. She was driving and I was passenger. she got pulled over for suspected DUI, and the park ranger tried to arrest her. Things became heated between them two, he pulled a tazer and was shouting her was gonna tazer her. At this point i got out of the vehicle, stayed by the passenger door, put my hands in the air and said "sir please dont tazer my friend" i told my friend to just calm down and go with him, and tried to calm him down too. the next thing i knew i too had gotten arrested by the cleveland police.

they took us to the justice centre, it was 2am on a saturday morning. they fingerprinted me with ink, took my name and date of birth, at this point i told them i was english and said i wanted someone from my embassy. they booked my friend too. the next day the arresting park ranger came and woke me up in my cell. he told me that he knew i wasnt really english, that he knew i was lying (i wasnt) and that i wouldnt be released. my friend was released that day. i was kept in until monday morning, the said i was being investigated for a felony (disobeying a police order) so they were keeping me for 72 hours. all the while i kept asking to speak to someone from my embassy.


monday morning came and i was led down to the courts, my felony charge was dropped and i was instead chaged with a misdemenour 2 obstruction of justice. there was like 100 other people in there, and when i put my hand up again, to tell the lawyer that i wasnt an american she said that she didnt have tme to answer individual questions.


the judge released me on a personal bond, and i was to get a court date. the next date available was at the end of april, and i was flying back on the 15th, i explained i wouldnt be in the country on that date but she said it was the only date they had.


i left the country the next week without having the chance to defend myself in court.


would i be able to go back to cleveland to get this matter resolved? or would i be arrested as soon as i landed in another state (probably new york, there is no direct manchester to clevland flight)


the cleveland police never took my passport details, the never photographed me nor scanned my prints. they have my name and date of birth, but to be honest i still don't even think they ever believed i was from England.

I am hoping someone has some advice for me on this situation, thanks in advance, lisa.

[Answerprancer]

My advice would be to get yourself a US based legal advisor.
In US law they have this thing called 'probable cause' - I would start by asking your American legal advisor if the arresting officer did have probable cause to arrest you and take it from there.

[lisaofliverpool]

thanks. im not too concerned about the charges. i know i can beat them once i get to court, my friend (the DUI girl) her lawyer saw the video of our arrest and said i had a really good case. im just worried that as i left the country without attending the appointed court date that i will be turned around at the border, or detained for days again or something. but given that i) they never took my passport details ii) they never took my photo or scanned my prints, only ink, and iii) they didnt even believe i was english - will that make me okay at the border??

[xstitcher]

Oh boy if that was me I'd certainly cross off the USA from my list of places to visit. Having said that if you really want/need to go there I would seek professional advice first.

[lisaofliverpool]

lol so im getting the impression no one really knows for sure :) lol thanks anyway guys, i appreciate all those that tried to help x

[MarkRae]

> lol so im getting the impression no one really knows for sure :)

A lawyer would...

[lisaofliverpool]

hahaha why thank you mark aka mr state the obvious :)

i have tried numerous times to contact us lawyers. uk ones cant advise me. i have tried law forums, and have emailed countless attorneys to ask about this situation. not one has ever got back to me. i was just hoping the "answer bank" might have someone who has been in a imilair situation, or id familair with border control or something lol i didnt realise it was just people basically stating the obvious.

[woofgang]

yup, that's us, a bunch of basic obvious staters :-) reading between the lines here, have you been trying to get free advice from the US legal beagles?

[lisaofliverpool]

hi!

erm, yeah i suppose i have been trying to get free advice from them. they advertise themselves as "free law advice" but im yet to reccieve any. my sister is getting married in new york in november, so i wanna go back to cleveland now i have the time off work and the unds in place to go back, but as i say i dont know if my failure to attend will show up on the ncic and i will be deported or sent straight to jail. im not even sure if i am on the system though, like if they had enough details to put my on. as i say they didnt scan my prints, just inked, they didnt take my mugshot, nor did they take any passport details??

[redcrx]

have you asked your friend to find out for you? seeing as she knows just as much info as you and is already in the US?

[lisaofliverpool]

she phoned the cuyahoga county courrt but they said that they couldnt talk about specific cases without talking to the person themselves. we tried doing one of those free outstandng warrant searches on line, and i didnt show up in any of those. but im a bit weary of believeing them. i think maybe i should just go over and try my luck, i think its the only way ill ever know for certain now. i want to thank everyone for trying to help though, it was really nice of you all to take the time to try :)

[237SJ]

When you fly into the States you will have to input your name and passport details before you can fly. These details will be forwarded to the US government so yes, they will have your details and yes, you will probably be arrested on arrival as you will show up in the border control system. Your only hope is to avoid the States for ever more or try to sort it out with a US lawyer. The fact that you jumped bail will not go down in your favour.

[China Doll]

You probably need to pay a firm in the US to do this. Since you're a british citizen, if they are a free advice firm, it's probably not extended to those living abroad. Pay and find out for sure, probably cheaper than a return flight to new york when you might nto be allowed to stay.

[redcrx]

"she phoned the cuyahoga county courrt but they said that they couldnt talk about specific cases without talking to the person themselves"

and what did they say when you phoned them then?

[stacyram1rs]

May this could help. Why not try different lawyers?

http://duilawyernow.org/