Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

I am writing a screenplay and have a question about how this police undercover situation would work in a court room. Let's say a cop who does undercover work has to get on the stand and testify. However in the back of the court room there is a citizen sitting in on the trial.

The cops cannot allow this citizen to be there, because the cops are also investigating him and the undercover cop has made contact with him. The cops cannot allow for him to know that the man that is going to testify is a cop, cause then his cover will be blown. So can the court remove the citizen from the room then? Or how does that work? Thanks.

I can't imagine that scenario. Besides, if the citizen was barred from the court, don't you think he might be suspicious that he might be being investigated?

Again, trials are public. The courts can't just arbitrarily bar someone from a courtroom w/o cause (disruptive behavior, etc). In a massive investigation, arrests aren't made until it's over and the identity of the officer is no longer a problem.

Well the trial is for a murder that is not related to the person in the back of the courtroom. It just so happens that the undercover officer has to testify in a separate case unrelated to the one that he is undercover in. Does this mean that they will delay a murder trial that is unrelated, until the undercover officer's separate case is over with?

Defendants have a right to a speedy trial, normally defined as 60 days. It has to be the defense that asks for set overs after that so the prosecution cannot delay a murder trial to protect another investigation.

Defendants have a right to a speedy trial, normally defined as 60 days. It has to be the defense that asks for set overs after that so the prosecution cannot delay a murder trial to protect another investigation.

:iagree:

The prosecution and/or police have a decision to make. They will have to pick which investigation is more important; you cannot bar people from a trial, and you cannot just delay a trial based on an ongoing investigation. The detective can testify and jeapordize the new case, or the prosecution can drop the charges to preserve the other case.

Those are the only real options in the real world which may or may not reflect the way your fictional story will go.

-Citicop.

Okay thanks, that helps a lot. I think I can make it work for the story, actually but I have to know one thing. How does the court know that this person (the man being investigated), will appear? The thing is they are not expecting him to have a reason to come see the case.

So as soon as he shows up, will they have to stop the proceedings right there, and figure out whether or not to continue with the trial or not, since they have another case that they have to decide is more important or not? Or would they make the decision before to go along with the case, whether or not the man being investigated may attend or not?

No, if he showed up, they would have to ask for a recess before the officer testified (depending on how long before he was scheduled to go) and decide then. It could be days or weeks before they need that testimony in a complex murder case.

-Citicop.

True but what's to say, that when the testimony finally comes, that the man won't be sitting there that day? How will they know? Would it best to pick which case is more important right then and there?

Maybe there's a Real DAs website with an Ask-A-DA forum?

Harmonica,

I'm going to be blunt here and say that due to the volume of questions you've asked on this site (without participating in discussions any other way) it might be good form for you to provide support to this site by becoming a supporting member. It's a small fee and the quantity of questions you ask about books/screenplays you're writing is FAR AND ABOVE what anyone else here has posted without being a supporting member. Continually seeking free technical advice from others for years doesn't seem fair or reasonable, especially when this is a site a lot of us have put a lot of effort into maintaining.