I am sure this varies by location too, but it (at least sometimes) depends on whether or not the person has been “booked” not just arrested. I found this from Santa Cruz County, CA:
source: http://www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/grandjury/GJ2005_final/4%20-%201%20HHS%20DominicanJail.htm
Channelling Judge Judy, you got hurt a little bit getting caught doing something stupid. If you hadn’t been doing something stupid, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt, so it comes back to you. Just pay the bill.
What was that for? The OP is puctuated. Are you just assuming he doesn’t use punctuation because he is young?
Perhaps [p]panache45** would appreciate a comma where needed.
IANAL but I don’t see how it’s legal to demand payment for services someone specifically asked not to recieve. So what if he got caught doing something “stupid” (by which I presume you mean “illegal”). The proper place to work that out is the courts. If a judge sets him a fine, let him pay that
How many juveniles do you know who have $1,657.47 lying around? :rolleyes:
Whatever he did, it was clearly pretty trivial, and not a felony. He is not really even complaining about the “ticket” he got, but on top of that legal punishment, he was detained for over two hours and they are billing him for something he never wanted or needed. It sucks.
Does over two hours count as “a short period of time”? And cuffed, for just a misdemeanor (at most)?
His punctuation is better than your BB Code. 
There were commas in there. Maybe ideally it could have used a few more, but the meaning was not unclear. panache45’s remark was mean, rude and unjustified.
The lack of money doesn’t negate the responsibility for medical bills (if he is indeed responsible, more likely his parents would be). There are also indigent services and resources available to those who receive medical treatment without the means to pay- especially when that treatment is “forced” upon them by the police. A few phone calls could probably clear things up, and speaking to a lawyer in his jurisdiction almost definitely would.
I wouldn’t think so, but I am sure every department has its own set of rules and guidelines regarding how long someone may be “detained” without an arrest being made. It’s a CYA weasel-word as far as I am concerned, used when the police are looking for justification to arrest. If it were unavailable as an option it is likely that OP would have been immediately arrested (then released) instead of being “detained” for so long. The only real difference of which I am aware is that he would have been read his rights sooner. But again, that would be something to discuss with a lawyer (which I am not).
:rolleyes:
It was a rhetorical question sarcastically directed at Cat Whisperer and the egregious Judge Judy.
I had something similar thing happen after a car accident when I was about 18. Although I had a hole under my arm where the door hit me and I was bleeding, I told the ambulance guys I couldn’t afford an ambulance and would arrange my own transport to hospital. They told me I was hysterical and they would strap me to the trolley if they had to so I gave in. They then told one of my passengers he may as well come too because I was being taken to hospital anyway. We both received bills that we couldn’t afford to pay.
I refused to pay and was eventually summonsed to appear in court. I went and saw the local Director of Public Prosecutions and told him my story. He was a very nice guy, seemed to understand my point of view but explained that the ambulance guys don’t care about billing people, they obviously did what they did because they thought it best. If you use the ambulance you have to it, if I had been unconscious would I say I didn’t give permission? He said I was welcome to try my luck in court but he didn’t think I could possibly win but he was sorry for my bad luck. He convinced me and I gave in and arranged to pay it off.
The other driver’s negligent driving charge was another legal learning experience that I think I have told before.
So are reading comprehension and manners. Did you really have a hard time understanding that post? I am sorry it didn’t score over 98 on your scale of perfectionness of grammaticosity but that is no reason to be rude to someone asking a question.
FYI in my state(not CA), an injured juvenile cannot refuse medical treatment. That has to be done by his/her parent/guardian. If the parent/guardian was not physically present, I can understand why the officer called EMS. It cannot be done by phone, since the officer can not verify who he is speaking with. I know its hard to believe, but some people actually lie to the police.
Since this is a request for legal advice about a specific personal case, I’m closing the thread. The posters have already given some good advice.
samclem, Moderator, General Questions