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In the UK, a person arrested for murder can be held for set periods of time before he (or she) is charged or released. Initially it's 24 hours, but it can be much longer - and there is nothing the accused or a lawyer can do about it until the time is up.
However, in just about every American TV cop show I've seen, a lawyer breezes in after half an hour and says "charge or release", and then walks out with the client. Is this right in real life?
Question
#122100. Asked by darksplash. (Jun 24 11 3:10 PM)
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star_gazer
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These legal questions are tricky. But I do know that the police in the US need to charge a person with a crime in order to hold them. I am confused some what by your question; because, it says after a person has been arrested for murder the UK cops can hold them. Here in the US being charged and arrested are the same thing.
What you might be refering to is being questioned about a crime as a person of interest. The US police have to charge such a person in order to detain them.
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houston1127
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Just to clarify, being charged and arrested aren't the same. According to the legal dictionary at law.com:
Arrest-- 1) to take or hold a suspected criminal with legal authority, as by a law enforcement officer.
Charge-- 1) in a criminal case, the specific statement of what crime the party is accused (charged with) contained in the indictment or criminal complaint.
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darksplash
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Some interesting points.
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darksplash
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It's also interesting that the FunTrivia system would not let me post the full text of what I wrote in response to Star_Gazer's reply
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