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Jersey Devil

(10,795 posts)
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 10:07 PM 11 hrs ago

"detained for questioning" in Guthrie case?

CNn and other news sources says a man has been "detained for questioning" but not arrested. But there is no such thing as putting someone in custody to answer questions. I have been a lawyer for 55 years and that included a lot of criminal law and have no idea what they are talking about. Unless someone voluntarily submits to questioning there is no way they can be held in custody unless they are arrested.

42 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
"detained for questioning" in Guthrie case? (Original Post) Jersey Devil 11 hrs ago OP
thank you Skittles 11 hrs ago #1
Me too. n/t iluvtennis 9 hrs ago #31
Are the news sources getting this info from Kash Patel? Greywing 10 hrs ago #2
Yeah, ol Cash crossed my mind, too. Cha 10 hrs ago #4
Bingo. The Keystone Cops at work! In an autocratic KPN 8 hrs ago #33
Mahalo, Jersey Devil.. Cha 10 hrs ago #3
Saw it Rebl2 10 hrs ago #5
Let's not pretend like everything always goes by the book. RockRaven 10 hrs ago #6
Sure, but there must be an arrest Jersey Devil 10 hrs ago #13
Did they send ICE? It would be on par for this FBI & WH to totally fuck over Maru Kitteh 10 hrs ago #7
Could be. ShazzieB 8 hrs ago #32
It's Kash's Law! CanonRay 10 hrs ago #8
I call bullshit montanacowboy 10 hrs ago #9
NBC interrupted Olympics coverage TommyT139 10 hrs ago #12
Something about this news report is screwy Jersey Devil 10 hrs ago #14
Absolutely! KPN 8 hrs ago #34
Is it the case TommyT139 10 hrs ago #10
That's a TV show 48 hours gab13by13 10 hrs ago #16
See comment 22. "Quarles exception" TommyT139 9 hrs ago #23
You can't detain someone simply because a life is at risk Jersey Devil 9 hrs ago #29
There is no provision to hold someone to answer questions Jersey Devil 10 hrs ago #17
See comment 22: "Quarles exception" TommyT139 9 hrs ago #24
You cannot be "held for questioning" - it's not a thing at all Prairie Gates 10 hrs ago #20
Talking head on MSNBC TommyT139 9 hrs ago #22
Quarles is an exception to Miranda warnings, not the requirement to arrest someone for questioning Jersey Devil 9 hrs ago #27
That's not what I said TommyT139 9 hrs ago #28
Hopefully this is a good sign Johnny2X2X 10 hrs ago #11
Could you explain what we're supposed to be looking at on your link? Sogo 9 hrs ago #25
meh. i was once 'detained' but not arrested by chgo cops. mopinko 10 hrs ago #15
You were arrested Jersey Devil 10 hrs ago #18
oh i know. i was either arrested or illegally detained. but they insisted i wasnt under arrest. mopinko 10 hrs ago #19
Spunds like they made something up to cover their asses Jersey Devil 9 hrs ago #30
Why would you conflate the ability to sue or the right to a remedy with "cannot be detained without arrest" Ilikepurple 8 hrs ago #35
i talked to a lawyer. mopinko 7 hrs ago #36
Obviously unlawful detention exists. If there was no such thing, we wouldn't need its associated due process right. Ilikepurple 9 hrs ago #21
Terry stop? Jersey Devil 7 hrs ago #37
They're probably detaining him because he's not a citizen. Frasier Balzov 9 hrs ago #26
That could be the answer Jersey Devil 7 hrs ago #38
I think this is cartel activity Melon 7 hrs ago #39
Police release man detained in connection to Nancy Guthrie disappearance muriel_volestrangler 4 hrs ago #40
So you're suggesting that Kash et al malaise 3 hrs ago #41
I did not know this cally 2 hrs ago #42

RockRaven

(18,963 posts)
6. Let's not pretend like everything always goes by the book.
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 10:18 PM
10 hrs ago

They can also keep somebody in custody for reason X when the issue the cops and public are really interested in is issue Y.

Jersey Devil

(10,795 posts)
13. Sure, but there must be an arrest
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 10:26 PM
10 hrs ago

Of course they could arrest someone for trespassing when they really want to ask about another crime, but they cannot "detain" someone without arresting them for something.

Maru Kitteh

(31,433 posts)
7. Did they send ICE? It would be on par for this FBI & WH to totally fuck over
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 10:20 PM
10 hrs ago

the entire case and end up with a broken pile of shit just so they could get some publicity they think is a “win” for them right now.

More plausible: They keep saying he has not been “charged.” I haven’t yet heard nobody has been arrested. Guessing he’s arrested/detained on some other charge and that gives authorities some time and wiggle room?

Whatcha think?

montanacowboy

(6,691 posts)
9. I call bullshit
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 10:21 PM
10 hrs ago

If this person of interest is "in custody" then a charge should be made, otherwise he can walk out the door and he damn well should

TommyT139

(2,259 posts)
12. NBC interrupted Olympics coverage
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 10:24 PM
10 hrs ago

so that lends some validity, to me.

Kashyap Patel had "helped" earlier today in putting out the video from the authorities.

TommyT139

(2,259 posts)
10. Is it the case
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 10:21 PM
10 hrs ago

...where someone can be held for questions, if there is a clock that starts ticking from the time when they do make the arrest?

Jersey Devil

(10,795 posts)
29. You can't detain someone simply because a life is at risk
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 11:54 PM
9 hrs ago

Miranda is a separate issue that determines whether a statement can be used in court, not whether someone can be detained without arrest.

Jersey Devil

(10,795 posts)
17. There is no provision to hold someone to answer questions
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 10:34 PM
10 hrs ago

If police ask someone to answer questions and they say no then they have to let him go or arrest him immediately. Eal police work isn't like the tv show Colombo.

Prairie Gates

(7,580 posts)
20. You cannot be "held for questioning" - it's not a thing at all
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 11:05 PM
10 hrs ago

You are either under arrest or you are not. You cannot be forced to answer questions. That's the first thing: "You have the right to remain silent..."

TommyT139

(2,259 posts)
22. Talking head on MSNBC
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 11:24 PM
9 hrs ago

As it happens there is an exception: when there is a life in danger, police can question without an arrest and without Mirandizing. He referred to it as a "Quarrels exception" (spelling from the closed captioning).

Update: "Quarles exception"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_v._Quarles

"New York v. Quarles, 467 U.S. 649 (1984), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court regarding the public safety exception to the normal Fifth Amendment requirements of the Miranda warning."

Jersey Devil

(10,795 posts)
27. Quarles is an exception to Miranda warnings, not the requirement to arrest someone for questioning
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 11:50 PM
9 hrs ago

Quarles really is irrelevant

TommyT139

(2,259 posts)
28. That's not what I said
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 11:54 PM
9 hrs ago

I didn't say there was a requirement to arrest. But MSNBC had someone on who had been on the law side, and that was his hypothesis.

We'll likely know more tomorrow, for better or worse. 🤞🏻

Sogo

(7,067 posts)
25. Could you explain what we're supposed to be looking at on your link?
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 11:28 PM
9 hrs ago

It looks like a home page explaining what the site is....

mopinko

(73,437 posts)
15. meh. i was once 'detained' but not arrested by chgo cops.
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 10:29 PM
10 hrs ago

told me twice i wasnt under arrest, but i was sure nuff cuffed and put in a cruiser, and cuffed to the bench at the station for 2 hrs. it was sort of for my own protection, i think, cuz i truly pissed off a few neighbors.
i was given a misdemeanor ticket.

i suppose i cd have argued, but like i said, i was safer in cuffs.

Jersey Devil

(10,795 posts)
18. You were arrested
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 10:40 PM
10 hrs ago

Any time you are "detained" it means you have been arrested. But they would not do that without an underlying charge, which in your case was the misdemeanor.

mopinko

(73,437 posts)
19. oh i know. i was either arrested or illegally detained. but they insisted i wasnt under arrest.
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 11:02 PM
10 hrs ago

this is chgo. cops get away w all kinds of bullshit. i wasnt printed or anything, just given a ticket.
i admitted my ‘crime’. it was almost funny. the reason it took so long is they had to figure out what my actual crime was, what the specific law/section/etc. no 1 cd find ‘the code’.
it was damage to property, but it was too piddly to b a felony.

Jersey Devil

(10,795 posts)
30. Spunds like they made something up to cover their asses
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 11:59 PM
9 hrs ago

If they did not charge you after hauling you to the station house you could have sued them for illeal detention.

Ilikepurple

(483 posts)
35. Why would you conflate the ability to sue or the right to a remedy with "cannot be detained without arrest"
Wed Feb 11, 2026, 12:56 AM
8 hrs ago

Cannot legally be detained except briefly without arrest is an accurate but different proposition. Yes, there are legal protections and people are often confused by inaccurate portrayals police procedurals in popular culture, but the force of those legal protections kick in after the fact. In your rush to provide a lesson in law you seem to have ignored realities that many have faced. Making up something to cover their asses is not a unique law enforcement event. Often people are happy just to be let go or accepting of a minor charge. As to the existence of remedies, not all of us are as comfortable going to court or as confident in the system as a criminal attorney. I think giving legal advice, teaching law, and discussing the real world effects of laws require different approaches, but maybe that’s just me.

Ilikepurple

(483 posts)
21. Obviously unlawful detention exists. If there was no such thing, we wouldn't need its associated due process right.
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 11:18 PM
9 hrs ago

Also, incomplete or mistaken info is sometimes leaked. You also know that someone can be arrested but not charged for a term of hours depending off the jurisdiction. I’m leaning towards the initial information coming from an individual who confused not yet charged with not yet arrested? Also, from what I’ve read, I’m not even sure the person wasn’t detained and questioned during a Terry Stop. It’s really hard to say with Patel’s FBI involved as this case is more interesting to a great deal of Americans than the Epstein info drops or anything else going on in this country. Keeping it in the headlines is a boon to this administration and its republican brethren. Of course it will also be a boon if they actually find Nancy and convict those responsible, but I have a hard time Patel’s media presence has justice as its teleological end. Of course, I’m hoping for the best outcome for Nancy Guthrie and her family.

Jersey Devil

(10,795 posts)
37. Terry stop?
Wed Feb 11, 2026, 01:38 AM
7 hrs ago

A brief Terry stop is not in the same ballpark with hauling someone to police headquarters and detaining them. Since you brought it up, just what jurisdictions allow police to detain someone without charging them?

Frasier Balzov

(4,948 posts)
26. They're probably detaining him because he's not a citizen.
Tue Feb 10, 2026, 11:32 PM
9 hrs ago

I can see how this is unfolding to bring the crisis of illegal immigration into prominence in the Guthrie case.

Jersey Devil

(10,795 posts)
38. That could be the answer
Wed Feb 11, 2026, 01:43 AM
7 hrs ago

It's the only explanation I have heard that would justify holding him without charging him with something.

muriel_volestrangler

(105,862 posts)
40. Police release man detained in connection to Nancy Guthrie disappearance
Wed Feb 11, 2026, 04:52 AM
4 hrs ago
Police have released a man hours after they detained him in connection to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of US news anchor Savannah Guthrie, CBS News, the BBC's US partner, has reported.

After taking the man into custody at a traffic stop, police searched his home in Rio Rico, south of Tucson, Arizona, sources familiar with the investigation told CBS News.

After his release, the man, identified only as Carlos, told reporters outside his home that he did not know who Nancy Guthrie was. "I don't follow the news," he said.
...
Carlos, reportedly a deliveryman, said he had been driving around and noticed authorities were following him.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr5l4yy3ezmo
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