Man Charged with Murder in Florida, Arrested in Michigan

September 26, 2016 Don Pumphrey, Jr. Violent Crimes Social Share

The Tallahassee Democrat reported on September 17 that a 55-year-old man was being held in the Leon County Jail without bond after being charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of a 33-year-old woman on August 28. MLive Media Group reported on August 31 that the man was arrested in Jackson County, Michigan, by Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety Officers who assisted the U.S. Marshals’ Lansing Area Fugitive Task Force.

The man apparently shot the woman at a north Tallahassee apartment they shared. WCTV reported that arrest papers showed the victim stated the man’s first name when she was asked who shot her. The arrest papers also showed that the woman’s 10-year-old child identified the gunman by his first name, saying his mother and the man had gotten into a verbal argument while he was in his room before he heard two gunshots. The child stated that his mother crawled into the room bleeding and asked him to call police before he rushed to a neighbor’s house to call 911. According to MLive, U.S. Marshals became involved after it was determined the man had fled the state and possibly was in Michigan. Task force officers monitored numerous residences the man had been to

The man apparently shot the woman at a north Tallahassee apartment they shared. WCTV reported that arrest papers showed the victim stated the man’s first name when she was asked who shot her. The arrest papers also showed that the woman’s 10-year-old child identified the gunman by his first name, saying his mother and the man had gotten into a verbal argument while he was in his room before he heard two gunshots. The child stated that his mother crawled into the room bleeding and asked him to call police before he rushed to a neighbor’s house to call 911. According to MLive, U.S. Marshals became involved after it was determined the man had fled the state and possibly was in Michigan. Task force officers monitored numerous residences the man had been to

The child stated that his mother crawled into the room bleeding and asked him to call police before he rushed to a neighbor’s house to call 911. According to MLive, U.S. Marshals became involved after it was determined the man had fled the state and possibly was in Michigan. Task force officers monitored numerous residences the man had been to before and was taken into custody without incident after he was seen leaving a residence being watched by the task force.

Understanding Extradition in Florida

Alleged offenders in criminal cases can often be tempted to think that leaving the state where an alleged crime was committed will allow them to escape prosecution. The Extradition Clause in the second clause in Section Two of Article Four of the United States Constitution, however, states:

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

The Extradition Clause prevents people from fleeing to other states where they could not be prosecuted for alleged crimes. Extradition can be a complicated and very costly process for alleged offenders. Not all criminal charges merit extradition, but the two most common reasons for extradition proceedings are if an alleged offender has been charged with a felony offense or is in violation of his or her probation. When an alleged offender is believed to have fled to another state, local authorities may seek the help of a federal agency such as the U.S. Marshals or the FBI.

When there is an outstanding warrant for a person’s arrest, the alleged offender’s information may also be entered in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), a federal database that contains information on fugitives and other people with outstanding warrants in all 50 states. Information in the NCIC is accessible by law enforcement agencies all over the country, and authorities who encounter people with records in the NCIC are required to contact the agency that entered the information and take whatever action may be required–including possibly placing the subject under arrest for extradition.

If you or a loved one could be facing extradition to or from Florida in order to face criminal charges, it will be in your best interest to seek legal representation as soon as possible. You will want to immediately contact an experienced Tallahassee criminal defense attorney who can possibly fight any extradition attempts.

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