CNN has a story that the runaway bride has been indicted by a grand jury. She was indicted - in Gwinnett County, Georgia, of "making false statements" and one count of "making a false report of a crime".
Except, of course, she did neither of these things in Gwinnett County, Georgia. The locality where those crimes were committed, Albequerque, New Mexico, has publicly stated that they will not press charges.
How in the hell does a District Attorney in Georgia have the balls to go after someone for something done elsewhere?
How in the hell does a Grand Jury have enough collective stupidity to actually indict someone for something that wasn't even done in their jurisdiction?
She actually made false claims to the Georgia police in a phone interview. Thus the false statements charge.
Not sure about the false report, it all depends on how they define report...
She needs to be charged with something and she should have to pay for all the expenses incurred for her search.
Maybe the next person that runs away on purpose will leave a note...
"She needs to be charged with something and she should have to pay for all the expenses incurred for her search."
That's horse-shit. You have the right to simply up and disappear. As an adult, there is no legal requirement for you to tell people where you've gone, nor should there be one.
If people want to expend money looking for someone who doesn't want to be found, they've got ZERO right to try and make the person they were looking for foot the bill.
Damn Bible Thumpers!!
Although I can't say much one way or the other about the pending charges (don't know enough details), I have to agree with Derek on the financial reprecussions issue. Although it is obviously irresponsible to not tell somebody when you decide to "disappear" like that, it is hardly a requirement you tell somebody you are going somewhere.
I mean, if a friend of mine decides to go away on a spur of the moment, and doesn't come back for many weeks, I get worried, and I initiate a search, the friend is responsible for the costs of the search? Damn, talk about ridiculous in the extreme. So, what official paperwork do I need to fill out and with whom do I file it to get "permission" to go somewhere?
Maybe that will be the next step - and then so much for "democracy".
If I were her attorney I'd fight on juristiction as well. The alleged offense was in New Mexico, and making the phone call from New Mexico to Georgia puts it under federal juristiction if not New Mexico's because it is interstate. I'm with Derek, I don't see how Georgia has any juristiction over any of this.
But Derek! She made the media look bad! She must be punished!
Seems like a lot of crap to go through just to tell your fiance he's a loser.
Just say no!
The situation stopped being about a legal adult disappearing when she called an lied about being abducted. I'm betting if she simply called and said 'I'm not getting married and I'm going away for awhile' things would be fine. She crossed the line when she called the New Mexico police and her fiancé and said she'd been abducted. As the Duluth police chief was on a phone extension with the fiancé, she made a false statement accusing someone of a crime. And as she said she had originally been abducted in Georgia, they have clear jurisdiction to charge her with a crime. Should she go to prison? Nah, probably not (although living in Atlanta I'm so sick of hearing about this I'd like to see her put away. But in the end, it's more the media's fault than hers). But she should be punished in some way and it seems compensating the Duluth pollice is the best way to go.
"The situation stopped being about a legal adult disappearing when she called an lied about being abducted"
... but:
(a) the people she lied to were in NEW MEXICO, not GEORGIA
(b) the state is unable (or at least, in a sane world, "should be unable") to recoup "damages" that they voluntarily expended *BEFORE* the false complaint. In other words, the only expenses that SHE is even theoretically liable for are the ones incurred between the time she made a false statement and she recanted it (which, IIRC, was ranked in "hours").
The DA expects her to agree to a plea bargain. This kind of scummy behavior is common with prosecutors. There is a 5% chance that some idiotic jurt would convict her to hard jail time, so to prevent that from happening, the DA expects her to roll over to a fine and guilty plea to something lesser.
My thoughts EXACTLY.