Question about notification of criminal complaint

[mbil]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA
A friend of mine was notified that an application for a criminal complaint was issued against him. The form clearly states that he has not been arrested, but also says:
"WARRANT is requested because prosecutor represents that accused may not appear unless arrested".
What does this mean? Is there a warrant for his arrest?

 

[CdwJava]

It means that the DA is asking the court to issue an arrest warrant. Whether that request has yet been granted is something none of us can answer.

- Carl

 

[mbil]

Is the DA involved before a hearing even took place? This is a criminal complaint form from the court, saying there will be a hearing to determine whether criminal proceedings should take place. This was submitted by the accuser. Is the DA already involved?

 

[CdwJava]

Unless your state allows complaining parties to petition the court for an arrest warrant (and some do), here is how it generally works ...

The complainant reports a possible crime to the police ... the police take the report and investigate ... if they find that there appears to be probable cause to believe a crime has occurred, they forward the case to the District Attorney or a city prosecutor ... the DA or prosecutor then evaluates the case and decides if it is a case they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial and if it is a case they wish to pursue ... if so, then the DA will file the case with the court and request an arrest warrant commanding the police to arrest the defendant, or request the court issue a summons commanding the defendant to come to court on his own.

Apparently the local DA has decided to have thew police come and get him.

If this notice came from the court, perhaps it is a courtesy notice to let your friend know he might want to consult an attorney. It seems silly to me for a court to notify people who are the subject of a possible warrant, but every state is different.

- Carl

 

[mbil]

I checked the court website and the procedure for filing a complaint, and it doesn't involve the DA, but is filed by the complainant. Does that change the situation of what the warrant is?

 

[dave33]

No, I don't think you understand what Carl said. It is understood that the complaint was filed by the complainant. What you are wondering about is if there was a warrant issued as a result of the complaint. Now you indicated that you were notified of a request of a warrant based on the complaint. The fact is, is that we don't know what the judge ruled. It is highly likely that a warrant was issued. Basically it's normal procedure for the judge to issue a warrant if requested by the d.a. Also it is highly unusual for someone to be informed that such a request was made. Also at the time the request a decision was also made, so you should be able to find out whatever happened.goodluck.

 

[CdwJava]

I checked the court website and the procedure for filing a complaint, and it doesn't involve the DA, but is filed by the complainant. Does that change the situation of what the warrant is?

Well, since you wrote that something he received said:

"WARRANT is requested because prosecutor represents that accused may not appear unless arrested".

That implies the prosecutor (aka DA, aka District Attorney, aka City Attorney ... whoever is the prosecuting office) is seeking the warrant.

In that case the COMPLAINANT may be the prosecutor.

I do not believe that MA allows for private persons to "swear out" a warrant for lesser offenses, but maybe they can. But, even if they could, why would the notice say that the prosecutor sought the warrant?

At this point, he should hire an attorney who might be able to head this off at the pass. Or, he waits ... and hopes that he is not arrested on the warrant at work, play, or at someplace that could be embarrassing or inconvenient.


- Carl

 

[dave33]

Gotcha. Seems like a lot of missing info. here. What I was thinking is that a complaint was issued by a private citizen. Than defendant was informed of court date, and did not appear. Than the prosecutor requested a warrant from the judge. It doesn't seem to make sense, but I can't think of another situation where a d.a. would request a warrant be issued. The word "request" would seem to indicate he is trying to get a 3rd party to issue the warrant. So, I was thinking he got a summons and than failed to show which compelled the prosecutor to request the warrant. I was considering the original complaint and the request for the warrant 2 different issues.

 

[dave33]

I think the confusion is the lack of information. In criminal cases the state is the complainant. I guess I was thinking the person with a problem was the complainant. I guess technically both is true, but in his short thread, it would certainly seem the state is the complainant. Sorry for confusing the situation.