Inmate Criminal Charges: Can Inmates get Charged With Crimes in Jail?

Inmate Criminal Charges: Can Inmates get Charged With Crimes in Jail?

In the movies, inmates commit crimes and nothing ever happens to them. In real life, committing a crime in jail will usually get the inmate a new criminal charge. Here is how it works. How will they establish what happened? The jail will investigate any suspected crime, just as if it happened on the outside. For example, if there is a fight and someone is injured, the jail will try to determine who started it and why. If there is evidence, the primary aggressor may face assault charges. If an inmate is caught with drugs, possession charges can follow. How will they be charged? Once the jail decides an inmate has committed a crime, he will be charged in the jail. Some jails bring the inmate down to an administrative office to read the charges to him, others simply have a guard read the charges to him in a cell and hand him the paperwork. Typically, he won’t be booked again since he is already in the jail. What Then? The inmate is given a court date and will go through the same process he would if it happened while he was not incarcerated. The process is identical except that he is already in jail. He has the right to a public defender in most cases due to his lack of work while incarcerated. He might even have a bond set, but it won’t do much good as he is already serving time for something else. Sentencing If he is found guilty, he will be sentenced. Some judges let the sentence run concurrent with the time he is doing now. Other judges add a sentence to the end of the current incarceration, meaning he will not get out as soon as originally scheduled. Sometimes, he will have to do probation once he is out. Final thoughts: An inmate who picks up a new charge opens himself for a longer sentence. The best thing an inmate can do is stay quiet, do his time, and get out. Related: Federal Prisoner Receives an Additional 184 Month’s Imprisonment