Surrendering to a DC Robbery Arrest

If charged with robbery in DC, there are many benefits to surrendering to a DC robbery arrest. For example, a person could have a much more lenient judge and/or prosecution who will take into account the surrender when it comes time to sentencing. The penalties may be less severe in comparison to an arrest that did not involve a surrender. If you wish to learn more about this topic, speak with an established attorney today. A DC robbery lawyer may be able to provide you with more information.

Robbery Arrest Warrants

Once police obtain an arrest warrant, it enables police officers in any state to arrest the suspect without warning or advance notice. There is no publicly available database a person can look at to see if there is a warrant for their arrest because arrests are usually not public information.

This is different from certain other kinds of warrants, like a bench warrant, that a judge issues because a person failed to appear for a court date or did something else in contempt of court. In those situations, the arrest warrants are publicly available. Most arrest warrants, however, are not made available and are not considered public knowledge.

Outstanding DC Arrest Warrants

Police can arrest a person with an outstanding arrest warrant any place at any time, but when a person becomes aware that there is a warrant for their arrest, there are situations in which the police allow the person to surrender themselves to the police on the arrest warrant. This is one reason why having an attorney can help. The attorney can speak with the police and make arrangements in some situations to allow a person to surrender themselves on a warrant at a mutually convenient time.

This is often better than having the police surprise a person at their home, at their job, or in front of their children. Getting the assistance of an attorney to work with the police on the arrangements to surrender can make the situation easier, safer, and more convenient. Sometimes, surrendering to a DC robbery arrest can help a defense attorney convince the prosecutor or judge to permit the defendant to be released while their case is pending instead of being detained in jail awaiting trial.

Surrendering in DC

When a person arranges to surrender themselves on an arrest warrant with the assistance of their lawyer, it is helpful to the person in a few tangible ways. First, it can help convince a prosecutor a judge that the person is not a risk of flight. People who are voluntarily surrendering to a DC robbery arrest warrant are usually not going to flee the jurisdiction or the country of release. Voluntarily surrendering on a warrant shows that the person is responsible and is willing to address the allegations against them. Therefore, there is no need to detain them in jail while their case is pending.

Benefits of Surrendering

Surrendering to a DC robbery arrest can make a person look more sympathetic to a prosecutor when it comes to negotiations for more favorable resolutions. One argument that a defense lawyer can make to the prosecutor is that the police do not have to chase their client around the country to find and arrest them to bring them before the court. That saves the police and the prosecutor time and is generally less dangerous than having police knock down people’s doors. The person’s cooperation with the police in surrendering on an arrest warrant can be a helpful negotiation tool for the defense attorney to work out more favorable resolutions with the prosecutor.

That does not mean a person should be overly cooperative with the police by answering questions without a lawyer present, agreeing to interviews, or consenting to searches without speaking to a lawyer first. A voluntarily surrender on arrest warrant can be one small step that does not hurt their case and could potentially help it down the road.