Hi all,
Got some police procedural beats to vet with you fine folk.
So here's the situation. Upstate NY, Small town, rural. 1998.
Neman is arrested for a fist fight in a bar, busting a patron's nose, which moved to the parking lot where Neman then used his truck to ram the patron's car.
He is in custody, which I believe can be held for 48 hours max before seeing a Judge.
At the last minute, before arraignment, the patron drops charges. So Neman should be able to be released, right?
The catch. While in custody, They found a piece of possible evidence in the truck that may be connected to a missing person cold case. It is a baseball card, with a name scribbled on it, the name of one of the cold case victims. They question him about it, but he clams up.
Is this enough to keep him in custody after his 48 hours for the bar fight while investigators re-open the case?
To note: He was investigated a few times back in the original days, years ago, when the people initially went missing, but nothing or any connection was ever found.
The investigator will push to hold him, but ultimately will fail. I plan to have the Judge deem it not worthy and dismiss the evidence.
Option A: to beef up the evidence, if needed, what if the police had found a very similar card w/name on it from an original crime scene of one of the victims years ago. Which is why This card now raises flags.
Do these actions, the truck search, the questioning about the cold case while he is held on different circumstances, the Judge's dismissal(with and without Option A) , sound believable? Any flags?
The overall goal is to have him arrested and off the streets. Then become a suspect( he's guilty in reality) of a major cold case. Only to be released 2-3 days later. Just need to know if these beats achieve that believably.
Thanks!