Federal Jurisdiction Question

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Many of you know that we've had two killings of a DA and his chief prosecutor in Kaufman County. Also in the news today is the case of a couple of social msfits who escaped from a small town jail and are at large.

One of these charmers is charged with murder. His companion was just sentenced to prison for 40 years for parole violations.

The media note that the FBI has joined local and state officers in seeking these people. The US Marshal's Service is also involved.

Why are the Feds working these cases? I'm sure the cops here need all the help they can get, but i'm puzzled how Federal crimes are at issue. Is it a Federal crime to kill a prosecutor? What about those escaped prisoners, neither of whom was involved in a Federal case, insofar as the media have reported. As far as the public knows, no state lines have been crossed, so that angle is out.

I know we have SIG P-220 and other FBI agents here. Can they explain how the Bureau and the US Marshals get involved in such cases?

I'm just curious, not being a states rights complainer, etc. I'm sure their help will be invaluable. I'm just wondering on what legal basis it's being provided. i may need that info for a crime novel that I'm writing. i don't want to get the FBI involved in a case where they wouldn't be, in real life.

I know that, "Criminal Minds" has the Bureau's agents chasing local serial murderers, etc. In real life, such BAU profilers normally work within the police HQ, not out pursuing leads in the field and trying themselves to apprehend the "unsubs." And I sometimes wonder if NCIS would be handling some cases that they do on TV.

What's the jurisdiction issue here? On what basis does FBI, etc. get involved in chasing local fugitives, including murderers? When does murder become a federal crime, unless committed on a US reservation? Or when murder suspects flee across state lines, making a case for Interstate Flight To Avoid Prosecution.

I was once asked to assist an FBI agent in trying to apprehend a fellow wanted for various crimes, but the federal rap was just for Interstate Flight. He was also believed to have driven a stolen car across state lines. (I was at the time a security officer/access controller at a telephone company building, where the suspect's girlfriend worked. Many of the phone company employees were widely believed to be hookers on the side, and I was wholly unsurprised to learn that some associated with criminals. In that case, one of the other girls saw us waiting for the girl and her lover and tipped him off. An informant later said that the guy had been warned, so he let the girl out a couple of blocks away and drove off before we saw him.)

In such a case, I was willing to assist the agent and believe that any court that heard the case would approve my actions. I don't know if I should have pressed the agent to formally deputize me, or if he could. I think I was justified in assisting him in preventing a felony suspect from entering phone company property and perhaps being a menace to anyone there. He was believed to be armed and dangerous. And the agent told me that this was his first case on his own. He was pretty fresh out of basic training at Quantico. He was glad to have backup.

But legally, how would this have played out if a defense attorney questioned whether I was authorized to help the FBI? I am a former military cop, but never received any training about such a question, other than being warned about the posse commitatus (sp?) act. We were advised that an Air Force cop shot an armed robber at a convenience store. In that case, he was presumed to have acted as a private citizen. Because he was legally armed, there were no repercussions. But he was judged not to have acted as a police officer.

Any answers?
 
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No answer...concerning jurisdictions.

Regardin the killins...hard to think the Aryan Brotherhood would bring this much heat on themselves. Little far North for the Cartels.
Possibly a lone wingnut bent on revenge.

Very bad situation all around.
When whichever group of Pinkerton's get them/him holed up
it's gonna be ugly.
 
I had to admire the old boys sand, after the murder of the prosecutor he made his statement about "We gonna find ya'll and bring ya to justice". He did a pretty good impersonation of ole Rooster J. Cogburn. Its a sad day when good honest folk get gunned down, but as my daddy always used to say "Theres two sides to every story." Who knows what kind of deals are done behind closed doors, you shaft the wrong people in an illegal business deal and your looking to be taking a big dirt nap. I don't put anybody above the law and I know there are enough crooked petty politicians, judges, law officers, etc. and everything is just fine and dandy until somebody gets poked in the eye. I think theres a hell of lot more to this story than meets the eye, with the murder of two fairly high placed state officials, something ain't right...
 
T-Star:

I investigate murders, but I work on an Indian reservation, which is considered a special jurisdiction. Even then, one of the parties involved has to be an enrolled member of a federally recognized Indian tribe.

In the Texas case, I would expect the boys are either working it as a domestic police cooperation matter (asked to help), or are hanging their hat on a gang nexus (Aryan Brotherhood), some kind of interstate travel nexus (bad guy came from another state to do the deed), a Hobbs Act violation (has some bearing on interstate commerce) or are using the statute dealing with the murder of a federal official, which they have stretched to include a state prosecutor who has some interest in a federal case.

I worked fugitives for seven years in New Orleans, when the Bureau still considered fugitives important. We would take a New Orleans PD arrest warrant and open a case as a preliminary inquiry (PI). This was when New Orleans was clocking 435 murders a year - we only took murders, attempted murders, rapes, armed robberies, and home invasions. We could work it for 90 days as a PI - we either found them and arrested them locally in 90 days, found proof of interstate flight and filed a UFAP, or hung it up. We almost never hung it up.

There is a lot of internet bunkum about FBI arrest powers. I've heard seemingly intelligent people say we can't do an arrest or a search warrant without a local cop present (wrong), that we can't operate in a county without the Sheriff's OK (wrong again), and that we can only make citizen's arrests (really really wrong).
 
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With the ready availability of fast cars and good roads with which to cross state lines, I would not hesitate calling in the Feds to spread the net wider when things get nasty. The recent murders and the escape qualify for me.
 
I lived in Maryland 20+ years ago, and visited the FBI building (Hoover building?) in DC once. The agent doing the tour mentioned that the FBI had no jurisdiction in a state unless authorized by the state. He specifically mentioned MD as an example. He said that MD had not authorized them, so they had no arrest powers there. It was a long time ago so maybe I'm not remembering it correctly, but I thought that was interesting.
 
I lived in Maryland 20+ years ago, and visited the FBI building (Hoover building?) in DC once. The agent doing the tour mentioned that the FBI had no jurisdiction in a state unless authorized by the state. He specifically mentioned MD as an example. He said that MD had not authorized them, so they had no arrest powers there. It was a long time ago so maybe I'm not remembering it correctly, but I thought that was interesting.

He was probably referring to peace officer status. Some states consider feds peace officers, some don't. It doesn't really matter - the FBI generally enforces federal crimes and can execute federal arrest warrants and search warrants no matter what the state says.

It does get some of my overzealous comrades in trouble when they start thinking they are the police and can pull over speeders in their G-rides. That accounts for quite a few disciplinary actions every year. I tell all my new guys - You are not the police. Get used to it.
 
Thanks, SIG-P-220. You're always a source of good info.
Maybe they were just asked to help in the Texas case, and may be considered peace oficers here. Or, they have an interstate angle that hasn't been announced.

If it is the Aryan Brotherhood or the cartels, it's a good bet that the shooter(s) were imported from elsewhere.
 
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