Tenant Arrest Warrant

January 28, 2005 10:10 AM

I'm a landlord and yesterday the violent crimes unit came by with a felony arrest warrant for one of my tenants, who wasn't home. They left me their card and asked me to call them when she was at home so they could come get her. My trouble is, I left a note on her door asking her to call the cops, which apparently she got, and apparently she did, though I haven't seen her at home any time recently. Have I just obstructed justice by trying to be fair to my (in my estimation) good tenant?
posted by anonymous to law & government (22 comments total)

Did you leave her the note intending to allow her to avoid arrest? If so, the answer is likely yes, depending on how the law is written in your jurisdiction. (Oh: IANAL).

The more iffy question is whether the police would bother to charge you, and if so, whether the prosecutor would press the case.

The more hot the police are to collar your tenant, the more stridently they will react (if they find out what you did).
posted by sacre_bleu at 10:22 AM on January 28, 2005

Did you make every effort to call them when she got home? Can you control the fact that you haven't seen her at home since they came by? As you can tell by my sympathy for human weakness, I'm not a lawyer, but you seem to have acted in good faith.

Hopefully your note didn't say something like "Fuzz came around this morning. Said you was on the hit parade. Better cheese it if you know what's good for you."

Might want to go ahead and call a lawyer though, to make sure you do everything right from now on. Also because you should know about this stuff if you're a landlord.
posted by Hildago at 10:24 AM on January 28, 2005

Seems like an odd thing to do -- why didn't you just call the cops?

As far as getting into trouble, that depends on whether the cops find out about your note.
posted by me3dia at 10:27 AM on January 28, 2005

My trouble is, I left a note on her door asking her to call the cops, which apparently she got, and apparently she did

You mean she got the note and called the cops, and now she hasn't been around for some time? Sounds like, um, perhaps they arrested her? I don't see the problem. Unless I'm misreading the post.
posted by goatdog at 10:28 AM on January 28, 2005

If the police try to stick this to you, just think of the bad PR the police will get when you tell the newspapers that the police expect ordinary citizens to do their jobs for them.

This would look SO BAD on the police department, they'd be loathe to charge you with anything, I think. Heck, if you pushed the topic enough you might manage to get someone fired.

Furthermore, since you're not involved in law enforcement at all, I would think a simple defence of ignorance would be appropriate. "You mean doing x would do y? Wow. I didn't know that. Guess that's why you're a police officer and I am just a landlord." This isn't much different than a plumber saying "turn this pipe 10 degrees if it leaks again" and you ending up with the place flooded. Not. Your. Fault.
posted by shepd at 10:36 AM on January 28, 2005

Curious. Obviously, they asked you to call them, which you didn't. Then again, did they specifically ask that you not mention to your tenant that they came by? (I don't neccessarily think that would go without saying, depending on the context of the conversation.) I certainly don't think you helped the cops, but that's not your job, and "obstruction of justice" seems like it would have a much higher standard.

Besides, if they really wanted your tenant that badly - if it was a hot or urgent case - they wouldn't tell someone else to give 'em a ring... they'd be waiting in the bushes.
posted by pzarquon at 10:46 AM on January 28, 2005

Yep, I'm with shepd on this one, they can't expect you to do their job for them.

Did you call the cops as they asked when she showed up or did you leave the note and leave it at that? They might be irritated but I don't think you can be charged with obstruction unless they specifically told you not to alert her.
posted by fenriq at 10:46 AM on January 28, 2005

I'm with goatdog, and I think you are worrying about the wrong thing here. Sounds to me like someone's rent will be very, very late come the first.
posted by mischief at 10:50 AM on January 28, 2005

I'm not aware that you're required to follow cops' orders unless you're in the police department, under arrest or being pulled over.

From my experience as a crime reporter, I recall that police are often asking people to do things that will make their jobs easier, but it doesn't mean it's required or even honorable for you in your role as, say, a landlord.

I don't see it as a question of "will you be able to get out of this one." I wouldn't sweat it at all. I don't think it's anywhere near obstruction of justice, which would be more like lying to the cops or bribing a judge.
posted by inksyndicate at 10:55 AM on January 28, 2005

I don't know, maybe you should call the cops and make sure everything is straightened out. Explain that you may have made a mistake. This isn't a bucket of parking tickets- it's a violent crime. Please please please do the right thing.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:56 AM on January 28, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]

Is there a chance the cops will ever find the note? If so, I'd recommend that if or when you talk to them again, you're up front about the note so they don't give you a hard time or accuse you of lying to them about having "warned" your tenant. Not that that necessarily means they have any recourse against you, but it's just good policy.
posted by cactus at 11:18 AM on January 28, 2005

I read the post as the landlord *didn't know and didn't see* when/if she came home, only that the note was gone, so how could anon. have called the cops as requested anyway?
posted by tristeza at 1:02 PM on January 28, 2005

I don't know, maybe you should call the cops and make sure everything is straightened out. Explain that you may have made a mistake. This isn't a bucket of parking tickets- it's a violent crime. Please please please do the right thing.

I wouldn't do this. Please remember that the cops are not your buddies.
posted by rdr at 1:07 PM on January 28, 2005

I don't know, maybe you should call the cops and make sure everything is straightened out.

As rdr said, please do not do this. Thats bad advice. You should comply with the law but other than that it is in your best interest not to get involved here.

If the cops come around again, simply tell them that you have not seen her, which is the truth.
posted by vacapinta at 1:12 PM on January 28, 2005

Call your lawyer. Let them know what's happening and recommend a course of action.

What, you don't have a lawyer? You're a landlord. You need a lawyer. Take this opportunity to find one if you haven't already.
posted by Dreama at 1:20 PM on January 28, 2005

It's not against the law to tell someone the police are looking for them.

The police never should have involved you and definately should not have detailed her legal situation to a third party. A simple, "We need to speak to her do you know when she might be back?" would have been adequate. If she is dangerous then they need to their jobs and use whatever resources are required to scoop her up.

I wouldn't do a thing (except maybe call the jail to get an idea of whether or not you should expect the rent). DO NOT call the police. Depending on the situation the investigating officers may be under some pressure from their superiors and you do not want to volunteer yourself as a scapegoat. As far as your concerned you were doing them a favor by leaving a message for her.
posted by cedar at 1:55 PM on January 28, 2005

"Have I just obstructed justice by trying to be fair to my (in my estimation) good tenant?"

Are you in the U.S.? If so, we used to have this thing called "innocent until proven guilty". That being said, the fact that the person has been a good tenant has nothing to do with whether or not the person may have committed a felony (involving a violent crime, according to your description).

In this case, you may want to evaluate to whom your loyalties might lie. Do you want a Landlord - tenant relationship with someone who may have committed a violent (felony) crime? The facts may reveal that you have been more interested in helping a violent felon than assisting those whose job it is to protect the public. (Yeah, I know being anti-cop is all the fashion but most of them do their jobs conscientiously and well - in the interests of the public.)

I think you know whether or not you may have obstructed justice. Your question seems to be, can you be put on the hook for it.
posted by spock at 2:00 PM on January 28, 2005

"...most of them do their jobs conscientiously and well - in the interests of the public."

Uh, no.

Like in any other field some cops are conscientous, conduct themselves professionally and serve the interest of the public. Others are incompetent bumblers who would be flipping burgers if it wasn't for powerful (and litigous) unions. Some lawyers work for the SPLC and others build personal injury cases out of people who are too stupid to read the 'slippery when wet' sign in Wal-Mart. Some doctors work horrendous hours in emergency rooms or dedicate themselves to pediatric oncology -- others rape insurance companies for lancing the boils of the wealthy.

You read about the doctors who leave sponges in patients, the lawyers who commit insurance fraud and the cop caught in the backseat with a teenage hooker. Or, the doctor who cures a disease and the cop who runs into a burning building to save the orphans. The majority of doctors, lawyers and cops fall into neither category. They simply put in their hours doing the best they can while hoping they don't screw up too badly.

Of course the difference is that lawyers and doctors don't have badges, guns and the expectation that people, all people, should do exactly what they say, when they say it. Sure, most times the cop is just a guy doing his job, but other times the cop is working from an agenda that isn't necessarily in your best interest. Since it's difficult to tell and the results of guessing wrong can be so severe, the only rational policy when dealing with law enforcement is to keep your mouth shut and call your lawyer.

LEA's like to think of themselves as 'big picture' folks and are often inclined to leave niggling little issues, issues like due process and evidentiary procedure, to prosecutors and the judicial system. The belief that they are not expected pass judgement but serve solely in an investigative/enforcement capacity is drilled into their heads from the first day in community college right through their retirement as supervisors. While admirable, this distinction is often not as benign as one would think and one of the unintended consequences is a widely held belief that mistakes will be caught and addressed by others further along in the process -- not a bad system of checks and balances providing the people 'later in the process' are not overburdened, underpaid and frustrated beyond belief.

Disclaimer: I have spent the better part of two decades in a variety of law enforcement related positions.
posted by cedar at 2:49 PM on January 28, 2005

My trouble is, I left a note on her door asking her to call the cops, which apparently she got, and apparently she did

...You mean she got the note and called the cops , and now she hasn't been around for some time? Sounds like, um, perhaps they arrested her? I don't see the problem. Unless I'm misreading the post.

Or she is evading arrest. Did you expect her to call the cops if she had committed a crime? A violent tenant isn't necessarily a good tenant. You never know what (who?) you'll find in the freezer, crawl-space, carpet...
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 5:20 PM on January 28, 2005

Let the cops do their own damn thing. Why should you be involved?
posted by ikkyu2 at 8:58 PM on January 28, 2005

Fuck tha po-lice.
posted by LouReedsSon at 3:18 AM on January 29, 2005

The first thing I would reccomend that you do is document all of your interactions with the police and with your tenet. If the situation become adversarial this will be information you want to have.

Since you're worried about obstruction of justice, I assume that you haven't just not seen your tenet, but believe that she is evading the police. Your concern then, should be whether the police and district attorney would consider the note that you left to be a warning that the police are searching for her, giving her the heads-up to skip town. If they decide this is the case (based on the what you said in the note) they may decide to prosecute you for aiding and abetting a criminal act (tenet's flight from known criminal investigation). Whether you would be convicted of this in court...eh *shrugs*. Seems doubtful to me unless you fairly explicitly told your tenet to leave. But I agree with sacre_bleu that the worse the crime the more they will hold this against you.

You can look up through the US Criminal Code to get an idea of what is prohibited and what the punishments are. Findlaw is also a good resource if you know what you're looking for.

Of course, I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, and the legal opinions that I proffer are as likely to be wrong as right. If you have some inkling that the shit is going to hit the fan, the sooner you get a lawyer the better.
posted by meditative_zebra at 12:21 AM on January 31, 2005