How long it takes before a defendant is presented for their first appearance before a magistrate is crucial. If the appearance was delayed, a confession or evidence may be in question.<\/p>\n
As a criminal defense attorney, I have heard this story a number of times. The defendant was arrested, taken to an interrogation room, gives a confession and is presented before a magistrate. However, while this sounds like it all happens within a reasonable time frame, that isn\u2019t always the case. In fact, if the defendant was delayed and confessed, or gave other evidence, defense counsel will likely attack the admissibility of the evidence and\/or confession.<\/p>\n
On a federal level there is a designated procedure for promptly presenting defendants to the court. In a nutshell it states that a confession should be achieved within six hours after arrest.<\/span><\/p>\n Here is how this rule came about. It harkens back to common law and when an (more…)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How long it takes before a defendant is presented for their first appearance before a magistrate is crucial. If the appearance was delayed, a confession or evidence may be in question. As a criminal defense attorney, I have heard this…<\/span><\/p>\n