Say I go to Hawaii and while I’m walking on the beach, this hippie comes up to me and offers me some weed, I buy it and it turns out to be a sting by police.
Off to jail I go. Ok, I make bail etc…
Does Hawaii usually work like normal courts in the US? What I mean is, a court date isn’t usually given until at least two months later here in Maryland. What I’m getting at is, do most people this happens to who are from out of town end up having to go back to Hawaii in a couple months for their court date or do they have some sort of expedited procedure for travelers since there are so many of them that probably get busted out there.
I would think that it operates normally, because most people need time to find a lawyer if need be. But I would also guess that there are a lot of people who skip on their bond and dawg The Bounty Hunter ends up at their door eventually, huh? Reason being is because it’s so expensive to travel out there for some people.
I don’t see anything special about Hawaii. The exact same question could be asked about someone from California or Alaska or Texas or Florida or Maine who got arrested in your beloved Maryland. How would they get treated?
Hawaii IS the US, a fully fledged state. They could not care less how you are inconvenienced regarding having to go back from another state, and why should they? “If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.”
I’d say just to be on the safe side, take your own weed. Be sure to declare it at the airport, because the ag officials like to inspect it for dangerous organisms.
In attempt to make a serious answer to your question, I’m not an expert, but my understanding is that when you are released on bail you are making a promise to appear at your court-date, and arranging to fufill that promise is your own responsibility. If you’d like to wait around in jail until your court date, you’re free to avail yourself to that option.
Maybe they like having fines paid? Perhaps they know mainlanders aren’t likely to show back up, so they have a system where you can take care of it quickly, which would work for everyone involved. Let’s be honest, it’s unlikely a bounty hunter is going to track someone over thousands of miles for a little pot.
I’ve heard Florida sets up “Spring Break Courts” so rowdy kids can pay the fine in quick order and be done.
I doubt bounty hunters would have to. It’s not like going down into Mexico. I imagine your name would go into a computer, and then maybe you’d receive a little visit from some local authorities. Is crossing state lines to avoid prosecution cause for the local FBI office to get involved?
I used to live in Hawaii and never heard of any setup like the one you describe for Florida. That was a long time ago, though, and admittedly I kept my nose clean.
It’s only entrapment if they entice you to do something you wouldn’t normally do. If you’d normally have no problem buying weed from some hippie on the beach, it’s not entrapment. If they pressure you into it, it is.
A seasonal worker here in Colorado got arrested for some form of assault for throwing a snowball at some woman. Yep, some people have no sense of humor.
He ended up having to fly back to Colorado for his court date.
From Australia.
All charges where dropped. That’s one expensive snowball.
They do streamline it in Florida - it’s pretty amazing. I was in Daytona for Spring Break one year and the cops down there have it down to a science - they hauled this girl out of the club line in front of us, declared her underage, got her info, and in five minutes she was back in line (they marked her hands, I think - there’s nothing illegal about going into the club underage, although the cover is higher.) I know there were fines, payable the next day or whatever, and I did see some “community service” along the lines of cleaning up the beach - not sure if those guys were underage drinkers or disturbers of the peace. But the Daytona Beach police force is on top of things - we never felt in the least unsafe, even outnumbered two to one by drunk frat males.
Also, they keep it cleaned up - we saw people throw up at night, but in the morning it was spotless. Way to go, City of Daytona Beach. I actually wrote them a letter when I got home to let them know that somebody, at least, noticed all their hard work.
:dubious:
When you do not show up for your trial date, a bench warrant will be issued, authorizing any person authorized to make arrests to arrest you.
Since I read that Dawg is gonna be back on the air, they may decide to film an episode where he flies to your hometown and picks up your sorry ass.
I was under the impression that they could not come to you. Thats why during chat room stings they always have to let the perv IM the “minor” first so it wont be entrapment
And on a side note i love living in California.
