Expert: Robin Sexton - 4/16/2008

Question
A person went to the police and told them that I dropped her son on his head and slammed a car door into her stomach(she was pregnet). It took the police two week to even contact me and when they did, they had a warrant for my arrest. this happened at a party were there were ten EYE witnesses and none were questioned.  Now  we had an argument can not deny that but is the way the police handled that legal?

Answer
Collis,

Is it legal ?  Probably yes.  There are few laws governing what police have to do when a crime is reported to them.
The real question, is it professional ?  I would certainly hope that the officer would have done some more work on this before they sought a warrant. At the minimum they should have tried to talk to you prior to seeking a warrant.
The other aspect is that the reviewing prosecutor could have sent it back for more investigation.
    I recognize that in some jurisdictions the work load is huge and short cuts are taken.  Not sure that is an excuse for not doing the minimum.


Good luck


Robin