Q: If my adult son has failure to appear warrant for vandalism/trespass & is living at home with us, can we be arrested?
My 23 yr old son was arrested in Santa Barbara for vandalism/trespass & was in jail for 3 days & released. He has an untreated & un-diagnosed mental serious illness & drug problem which he has refused to receive help. He is currently living in our home. If he continues to refuse help & does not attend his arraignment hearing & a warrant is issued, do we have any liability issues for him being in our residence?
A:
It's not likely that you would face any type of criminal responsibility for your son living in your home (under most circumstances) based on what you have described. There are two potential crimes that I'll discuss.
First, aiding and abetting a crime. In order to prove the crime of aiding and abetting the following elements would have to be proven:
1. A person committed a crime.
2. You knew that the person (in this case your son), committed the crime.
3. Before or during the commission of the crime you intended to aid and abet the person committing the crime.
AND.
4. Your words or conduct did in fact assist aid and abet the person in committing the crime.
In your situation, there is no aiding and abetting if the crimes have already been committed (so, it's not "before or during the commission"). If your son is simply not going to court when he is supposed to, he is in violation of his release terms, which is why a warrant was issued, but as long as you are not doing anything to conceal him from law enforcement then it is difficult to see any liability on your part.
Second, the crime of accessory after the fact. In order to prove this crime, it would have to be proven that you knowingly harbored, concealed, or aided a felon, in order to protect the person from arrest, trial, conviction, or sentencing.
The key issue here is your intent and is very fact specific. For example, if your son happens to live at your house, goes out and commits a crime that you had nothing to do with, and gets a warrant issued, you're very unlikely to get in any type of legal trouble. On the other hand, if your son is running a drug business out of your house that you reasonably had to be aware of, and you do nothing about it, then you could face liability. However, if your son did not normally live at your house, committed a felony and was on the run from the law and was hiding out at your house to evade capture, and you knew about it and were helping to conceal him, then you could face liability.
These examples are obviously not exhaustive. For specific legal advice you should confidentially talk to a lawyer and give your complete details.
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