Young Writers Society

Okay. So I'm finding that writing realistic fiction is a lot harder than fantasy - I actually have to know how stuff works, lol.

Anyway. I have a character who has been accused of committing first-degree murder. What I would like to know is:

- If at first he is only considered a suspect, would he be informed? What would he have to do? Could he live his life normally, but have to come in for interrogation a few times?

- How would they decide that he was the one who committed the murder? I don't mean what details would they use - I have those set up. I mean, what then would be the procedure? Would they just come to his house and arrest him?

- What happens between his arrest and the actual trial?

I don't need to know about trial procedures or anything - I have enough information there, and I don't really need to know that anyway for my story, lol.

I know it's a lot, and I've been wikipedia-ing and googling all night. *sigh* It took me long enough to just figure out what kind of crime would earn him a life sentence, lol.

Thanks in advance!

Hello! My dad is a lawer and knows about this stuff, so I asked him your questions, and here's what I got.

If at first he is only considered a suspect, would he be informed?

Not necessarily. If they have probable cause to believe that he commited the crime he would be notified and arrested. The Constitution says that without probable cause he can't be arrested, but he can still be told that he's a suspect. More likely, the police wouldn't in order to question him without him being on gaurd. That's if your story is set in the U.S. Without probable cause he could live his life normally, even if he is questioned.

My dad says the question is what is probable cause.

How would they decide that he was the one who committed the murder? I don't mean what details would they use - I have those set up. I mean, what then would be the procedure? Would they just come to his house and arrest him?

Without evidence, they can't just 'decide' he commited the murder. They'd go wherever he is, ASAP.

What happens between his arrest and the actual trial?

For murder, if they're almost positive he did it, he would be put in jail with high bail. (The worse the suspected crime, the higher the bail.)

I hope my answers make sense. I'm trying to sumerize(sp) Dad's wordy answers.

Is the story going to be from the perspective of the investigators?
Or the murderer?
Or some one who knows a victim, or is nearly a victim and gets involved?

I only ask because the severity of the crime,the amount of evidence, the competency of the investigator are all gonna be different for each one. So you would have different answers bellow.

If it is from the murderers point of view it is hardly practical to have great police work, tones of evidence because majority of the book would be in a holding cell.

If it is from the investigators perspective then you want lots of outstanding clue finding and lateral thinking, but a criminal on the run or something. It's a pretty short lived if they just arrest the accused in his home and then with all there great police work have him sentenced in a day.

If it from victims friend or someone who is nearly a victim getting involved you will have hardly any of the judicial system involved apart from important things like if they arrested a new suspect, or had some evidence you wanted.

I dunno just speculating.

Dan x

Dan x

Thanks, both of you! And Jen, thank your dad for me.

I'll give you guys a little more info on the story. It'll ruin it for you if I ever decide to post it, but it might help me get more information and/or find flaws in the plot, lol.

Davy and Diana are two seniors in high school who have been friends since elementary school. They live in a generally quiet neighborhood, where nothing ever happens. Of course, one day someone is murdered (it might be Davy's stepfather - not sure yet). Everyone is in shock. But then people start to wonder if Davy did it. Diana, convinced she knows him better than that, tries to plead his case and convince everyone he couldn't have done it. It gets more involved until finally Davy cracks, admitting he did it as he's taken to his cell. His sentence is life without possibility of parole.

So, basically, timing's everything in the story. That's why I'm trying to find out timing and procedures and stuff, to see if Diana will ever really have time to defend him and if there's time to build up suspense. If I have to, I can just make it a smaller part of the story, or I can make it a short story. It was just an idea I had.

Any further details would be great!

This discussion is interesting, I too know little about this.

However Id say that the only time hed know he was a suspect when he gets arrested, although US and UK law is different.