Expert: Amanda - 1/6/2007

Question
I live in Indiana and my husband was detained and taking to jail and was not read his warrant for 79 hours after being detained, my question is there a 72 hour law that the prosecutor has 72 hours to either read someone their warrant and bond or arraign this person or they have to be released from custody?  Some people tell me that is the law and others say that is not.  Can you please clear this up for me.  Thank you for your time.

Answer
Kenda,
I'm sorry that it has (ironically) taken me more than 3 days to get back to you.  I have been trying to find a reference to a 72 hour deadline in the Indiana laws, but I'm not finding it.  I did find a legal provision (Indiana Code 35-33-7-4) that says "A person arrested in accordance with the provisions of a warrant shall be taken promptly for an initial hearing before the court issuing the warrant or before a judicial officer having jurisdiction over the defendant."  It's possible that a court at some time interpreted "72 hours" to be the longest someone could be held within the requirement that they be processed "promptly" (but I haven't found a specific example of that, either).  Given that I don't practice Indiana criminal law day-to-day, I may be missing a step in the research here, but I can't find a 72-hour rule.  
Good luck to you and your husband,
Amanda